Mai Kawabanga (
Appearance[]
Mai was a child who had short hair with front bangs that only covered the right side of her forehead and a ribbon adorning the top of her head. She wore a collared long-sleeved shirt with a sweater on top, a skirt, and black knee socks.
As an Onbusuman, Mai had the appearance of a large creature; possessing a bulbous head with an inhuman face, the body of a turtle, and a large hairy tail. After her spirit was cleansed, Mai took on the form of a teenage version of herself and wore the same clothes from when she was alive.
Currently, Mai's spirit has taken on the form of a tiny creature. She has a turtle for a head with a bow on top and an animal-like face that is located below the turtle's head. Her body is small in comparison, having tiny, stubby limbs, and wears a small dress.
Gallery[]
Personality[]
While alive, Mai was a kind, friendly and cheerful little girl. She dreamed of becoming an idol and was very committed to achieving this goal by occasionally practicing with Rin and her friends. In addition, she did not take it lightly when others looked down on her dream, as she could no longer be friends with Rin after the latter doubted to Mai on whether being an idol held any worth, calling her out as a traitor. However, after finding out that Rin's criticism came from her having a hard life taking care of her grandmother, Mai felt empathetic and wanted to sincerely apologize to her.
After her spirit was released of her Onbusuman form, Mai chose to continue staying by Rin's side as a guardian spirit to see to it that she uses her singing talents to become an idol. As a guardian spirit, Mai has a rather blunt and stubborn personality that makes her come off as rude. In light of Rin's true goal to become a novelist, Mai did not take no for an answer and outright told her that her life has no meaning if she doesn't follow down the path of an idol. She also has a lack of respect for others that prompts her to throw insults. Although she doesn’t respect Rin's current wishes, she is quick to come to Rin's defense whenever other people insult her, showing that she still cares deeply for her friend.
Background[]
Born with a natural talent for dancing, Mai grew up with the desire to be an idol. She would befriend likeminded girls of her age with the hopes that one day they could become an idol group together. After hearing Rin Sawaki sing during class, she asked her to join her in pursuing her idol dream. The two of them, along with the other girls, would train constantly, with Mai's outgoing nature helping Rin break out of her shell. One day, Mai learned of Junior Idol auditions and encouraged her friends to audition with her, as it could be their ticket to TV stardom. Unbeknownst to her, Rin, someone whose singing talent she relied on, had to take care of her ill grandmother while her mother was off to work.
After Rin clarified her reasons for not being able to attend, neither Mai nor their mutual friends grasped the seriousness of her circumstances, assuming that Rin was either being dishonest or that her mother was simply lazy. This led Rin to confront Mai, questioning the value of pursuing an idol career. In response, Mai accused Rin of betrayal and, along with her friends, abandoned her, confident they could proceed to the auditions without her. However, when the audition day arrived, Mai was consumed by anxiety and realized she couldn't go through with it without Rin. She then requested her mother to pick her up. Upon learning that Rin was permitted to join them, Mai asked her mother to take her along, feeling remorseful for her earlier words and wanting to apologize in person. Tragically, they were involved in a car accident en route to pick up Rin, resulting in both of their deaths. Overwhelmed by guilt and resentment for what she perceived as betrayal, Mai began to haunt Rin as an Onbusuman yokai.
Synopsis[]
Kintama Hunt Saga[]
Acrobatic Silky Arc[]
Around the time she discovered one of Okarun's kintama and caught sight of Okarun transforming in class, Rin began to notice Mai's presence as an Onbusuman as she started to feel weighed down.
Onbusuman Arc[]
After leaving the Kamigoe Police Box with Okarun in hopes of retrieving his kintama back, Rin becomes crushed under the weight of the Onbusuman, much to Okarun's shock. He takes Rin to the Ayase residence for help, where Seiko identifies the yokai and its link to Rin's past. Seiko decides that purifying Mai's spirit requires visiting her accident site and the audition venue. Knowing the Onbusuman will appear in spirit-rich areas, Seiko takes Rin, along with Momo and Okarun, to Kami High, and hires dashi carriers for transportation, and the Hayashi for protection against the awakened spirits who will be chasing them on their route. Then operation then commences upon the Onbusuman's appearance and the awakening of the school spirits.
The Onbusuman then reappears and begins to grow in size in response to Rin's singing. Upon arriving at the scene of the accident, Mai's spirit recalls her memories of departing the audition venue to seek forgiveness from Rin and becomes freed of her Onbusuman state, enabling Mai and Rin to revive their friendship as the former finally has the chance to apologize to her childhood friend. The two then join voices in a duet to defeat the Shining School Building and make their way to the audition venue. There, Rin watches as Mai's spirit starts to dissipate. Before her departure, Mai hears Rin expressing her joy singing and dancing with her to potentially become idols together. In response, Mai confesses her envy of Rin's shift in demeanor whenever she sung, admitting that her own aspiration to be an idol stemmed from wanting to meet her mother's expectations, which she believed made her the real traitor. However, Rin reassures Mai that she is mistaken about herself, emphasizing that her kindness, cheerful demeanor, and determination to fulfill expectations are what truly make her admirable and an idol in the eyes of those around her. Mai then cries feeling touched by Rin's words and completely vanishes.
Danmanra Arc[]
The partecipants of the Onbusuman Operation reunite back in the Ayase Residence and have a celebratory dinner together, however between them Mai reappears as she couldn't pass on to the afterlife and she has turned into a weird floating spirit, with a small body and a big head formed primarily by a turtle-like creature with a bowtie on its head. Seiko reassures the kids that Mai is not dangerous and she has now become a guardian spirit. Okarun still wonders why she couldn't find peace and pass on so the spirit explains that she must first see Rin become an idol. The class rep states that it's no longer her dream but Mai insists since she has an innate talent for singing and if she doesn't, her life would have no purpose. Momo finds it harsh although she quickly gets shut off by the spirit who wants to keep Rin away from ordinary people like her. Mai demands to know her dreams and Rin embarassingly states she wants to write light novels. Mai puts her down as it's harder than it sounds like and she doesn't even have anything to write, although Rin declares she would like to write a romance story between a vampire and a girl. They keep bickering while Momo teases Okarun as she's sure that he has read her letter when he woke up during the Kur Invasion.
Rin and Mai return to the house the following day, welcomed by Bamora and by Turbo Granny to give her thanks to Momo who's unfortunately missing inside the cursed trunk. Discovering that Seiko is missing, Okarun turns to the Turbo Granny and questions her about the diorama. She demands something in return but out of nowhere Mai ticks her off by saying that she doesn't have a clue. Mai is surprised by her behavior and the Turbo Granny, offended, tries to punch her but she cannot reach her in the air. Mai and Bamora try to get them to stop and the latter states that they don't get along and they often fight. Okarun asks Mai about the cursed trunk yet this time it's the Turbo Granny who insults her memory span. They keep bickering until Okarun kneels to the ground and begs the Turbo Granny to help Momo and in exchange he will give her anything. The cat, realizing the gravity of the situation, recruits Mai and Rin to rescue everyone stuck inside the diorama.
With the unfortunate release of the Fairy-Tale Card after the breakage of the four seals, Turbo Granny contacts Rin and Mai who are standing outside and she intructs them to lower the trunk onto the black cloth to then remove all the figurines safely. Since touching it directly would transport them to Danmanra, which happens to a girl who carelessly used sticks as leverage, the Turbo Granny instructs to grab strands of black cloth and have Mai transport it since she, like all spirits, has resistance to curses. However, Mai refuses to do her bidding out of spite and instead convinces Rin to save them. She reminds Rin that she's haunting her to turn into an idol and Mai transforms into pure spiritual malevolent energy which surrounds the class rep, giving her an embarassing idol outfit and Mai serves as her microphone. While she convinces everyone to cheer Rin on to strengthen her, the latter can't bear the awkwardness and doesn't understand why she has to sing. She's shocked when Mai tells her that she will be stuck like that for the rest of her life if she doesn't, so upon hearing the bystanders encouraging her, she tries to clear her mind. Meanwhile, Turbo Granny goes mad and she desperately insults Mai as they are all about to deleted from the inner world.
Suddenly, they hear someone singing and everyone other than Momo is lifted into the sky, so Turbo Granny realizes the Onbusuman controls gravity and through Rin's voice they are lifting the figurines out of the diorama without touching it. Accompanied by music produced by two band members, Rin is now determined and sings at her fullest while Mai cheers her on. Soon after, all the players inside return to Earth although between them the Fairy-Tale Card, who was using Unji Zuma's body which has Umbrella Boy's powers as a vessel, escapes. The Card immediately sets sight on Rin and attempts to manipulate her to break her mind, bringing up her complicated childhood. Thankfully, Mai blasts him away and announces he won't be able to control her because she's her producer and she won't allow him to do so. Because of this, the Fairy-Tale Card uses his mouth card to make Rin's mouth vanish, impeding her singing and thus her offensive output. Rin and Mai observe the fight and the unexpected arrival of the Count of Saint Germain who turns the tide of battle and defeats the yokai along with Okarun, Bega and Rokuro. Immediately after, Okarun begs the two to sing again as Momo and Turbo Granny are still stuck inside the Danmanra. Unexpectedly, when they are brought out, Momo has shrunk down to the size of a palm.
Days later, Seiko offers to eat at every student caught in the fight at the Goro Stamina Booster restaurant. Momo promises to her friends that she's going to call them for the next paranormal occurence, however Mai bursts in and affirms that they won't be needed as her and Rin alone suffice. Aira, who has never met her before, gets tilted and she insults her beauty, to which Mai points out Aira's the ugly one and Rin is a hundred times prettier than her.
Current Saga[]
Kozuka Knives Arc[]
Rin was observing up close Kouki Yukishiro who was brought to the school's gym by her blackmailer when she suddenly was snuck up behind by the latter who summoned the Severed Head Dribblers that slammed Rin into the court's hoop before Mai could do anything. Aira, who came to their rescue while Okarun and Kinta got attacked, entered the gym and fought against the creatures until she saw Rin's floating head with Mai crying next to it. Mai explains what happened and the abilities of their enemies. In tears she insults Aira while asking her on how to save her, so she affirms they have to find the power user who controls them, similarly to the previous fight against Kouki. Suddenly, Rin regains consciousness despite having no body and Mai is rejoyced. However, Mai informs them that Rin is stuck between the mortal world and the afterlife, so if all of her entire life force spills out from her neck, she's going to die permanently. A Severed Head Dribbler targets Aira so Mai jumps in her way to protect her but Aira realizes she's more vulnerable than her and pushes her out of the way, unfortunately getting hurt in the process.
Mai is desperate and tries to cheer Aira on so she can continue fighting. She asks Rin if she's in a condition to sing but she exclaims that she cannot without her entire body. An headless player grabs Aira and dribbles his way to the hoop while Mai asks him to stop and gets in the way, although her small size makes it futile. Thanks to Aira's quick wits, she forces Rin's head through the hoop from the opposite direction, giving back her body and allowing Mai to turn into a microphone and activate her gravitational powers, defending the girls from the Severed Head Dribblers. She explains to Aira that Rin can control gravity although she's more focused on her embarassing outfit. They fend off the foes until Mai spots Kouki's head surrounded by Pygmies. Because the other two cannot see the creatures, Mai abandons Rin momentarily while she approaches the little men and teams up with them to bring Kouki's back. A pygmy grabs onto her ear and a chain of the creatures forms until they mimic a human player and they weave through the defenders on the court. Mai tries to slam Kouki in the hoop but she's stopped by multiple dribblers who guard it, so the pygmies create an alternative route under them and force their master's head through, returning her body. Mai returns to the powerless Rin who was being protected by Aira and starts singing again while Kouki informs them that her blackmailer is Murakami and what he has done. They decide to find him and defeat him but out of nowhere the Dribblers turn gigantic and the gym starts shrinking. Aira realizes that Rin's range of gravity is getting narrower so Mai informs them that Rin is still a novice and will only last a couple more minutes. Aira cannot defend all of them alone so they scramble to find Murakami, who's actually in the comfort of his apartment monitoring the scene.
Abilities and Powers[]
Gravitational Control[]
Chapter Appearances[]
| 121. Who's This Person? | Absent |
| 122. Let's Form a Club | Absent |
| 123. The Class Rep's Secret | Debut |
| 124. Ombusman | Flashback |
| 125. Let's Do an Exorcism | Appears |
| 126. It's a Parade Float. It's a Festival. It's Ninomiya | Flashback |
| 127. Float Performance Face-Off | Appears |
| 128. Let's Be Idols | Appears |
| 166. Is This a Little Fairy? | Absent |
| 167. Hey, There's Something There | Absent |
| 168. There's Someone Here | Absent |
| 169. Find The Culprit! | Absent |
| 170. A Suspicious Woman | Absent |
| 171. Corner the Perp! | Absent |
| 172. Those Pygmies Are Scary | Absent |
| 173. Corner the Criminal! | Absent |
| 174. Queen Sensei's Infirmary | Absent |
| 175. So Who's the True Perp? | Absent |
| 176. Scattering the Bait | Absent |
| 177. Let's Do Some Kung Fu | Absent |
| 178. The Power of a God | Absent |
| 179. This Seems Kinda Deadly | Absent |
| 180. The Owner of the Kozuka Knives | Absent |
| 181. Must Be the Influence of a Curse | Absent |
| 182. Something's Taken the Bait | Absent |
| 183. So It's You! | Appears |
| 184. The Class Rep's Head! | Appears |
| 185. So You're The Perp! | Appears |
| 186. Kouki Yukishiro's Power | Appears |
| 187. Kick the Crap Outta Murakami! | Appears |
Urban Legend[]
There are likely multiple sources behind the inspiration of the Onbusuman, as there are multiple legends of piggyback-riding yōkai throughout Japan:
- The Konaki-jiji (translated into Old man crying) of Shikoku is a kind of Japanese yōkai which is present in Japanese folklore. It takes the form of an old man, or a baby, to lures people into picking it up and then becomes impossibly heavy, crushing the victim.
- The Obariyon/Onbu Obake (translated into "Give me a piggyback ride!" or "piggyback demon") of Niigata is a kind of yōkai that jumps on a person's back and grow heavier and heavier, but if successfully ferried to its desired destination, would grant riches to its victim.
Etymology[]
- The name Kawabanga means "river" (川) "turn" (番).
- Her first name, Mai, uses an alternate character for "river" (河), as well as the character for "dance" (舞), the latter of which being a nod to her dancing talent
- Her yokai name, "Onbusuman", is likely a combination of "Onbu" (おんぶ), which means "piggyback", and the suffix "-man". It might also be based on the Japanese word for snapping turtle, "subban" (鼈), as "Onbusuman" and "Onbusubban" sound similar.
Trivia[]
- Mai's family name, along with her turtle theme both as an Onbusuman, a guardian spirit, and Mai's Onbusuman outfit, may be a reference to the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles' catchphrase, "Cowabunga".
- Though she is no longer an Ombusuman, Mai continues to be acknowledged as a yokai be Turbo Granny and Aira.
