| Overview |
| “ | Beatin' yerself up 'bout all this only serves to ease the guilt you put on yerself. The dead don't care a lick. Fact of the matter is, we're the ones who're desperately clingin' to the dead. | ” |
Kurebayashi Rie (
Overview[]
- A housewife from Kibogayama. She can see more than the average person, and is concerned about Yoshiki's involvement with Something from the Kubitachi Mountains.
Appearance[]
Rie is a middle-aged woman of short, stout stature. She has straight, medium brown hair that reaches her upper back. She wears it in a low ponytail with a yellow clip on the right side. Her exact outfit changes, but she typically wears jeans, sneakers, and a t-shirt.
Personality[]
Rie is overall a pleasant and generous person. Having learned from the mistakes of her past, she is now cautious and wise when it comes to beings from The Other Side. She is compassionate, with a desire to share her wisdom with those who need it, evidenced by how she continues to offer her help to Yoshiki and "Hikaru",[1] even though doing so provides no advantage on her end. At the same time, Rie respects people's boundaries and personal choices – for example, giving Yoshiki space and time to think about it rather than demanding he listen to what she has to say,[2] or accepting that Yoshiki continues to maintain a friendship with "Hikaru" despite her warnings.[1]
Rie is not shy about approaching or appearing strange to other people.[3][2] She is also very level-headed, not showing panic or fear even in stressful situations where lives may be in danger.[4]
She has deep love for her family. Her feelings for her husband were strong enough that he returned from the dead as an impurity. Additionally, despite her own desire to leave, Rie tolerates living in the Kibogayama area for the sake of her mother-in-law and daughter.[5]
History[]
Rie's biological mother passed away when she was young. She was taken care of by her step-mother.[6]
Rie is widowed. After her husband passed away, he returned from the dead as an impurity.[5] Unable to bear being without him, she allowed him to remain in her family home. Although his appearance was shadowy and inhuman, she told her children that their father was still here with them, and they still interacted. However, one day she heard her son, Iori, cry out. When she went to see what happened, she discovered Iori collapsed on the ground while her husband peered through a crack in the door with tears in his eyes.[1] This incident left her son with an irreparable scar[5] and caused her to realize that even though that entity had her husband's soul, it was nothing more than an impurity.[1]
Abilities[]
Sensing Spirits[]
Rie is able to perceive beings from The Other Side through sight. She also describes having an instinctual feeling that impurities are present, particularly around the Kubitachi Mountains.[2]
Closing the Curtain[]
There is a thin "curtain" separating the human world from the other side. When a distortion tears the curtain open and entities come through, Rie is able to drive the entities back to the other side and seal up the hole.[4] This is not the same as extinguishing the impurity - doing so is beyond her capabilities.[1]
Etymology[]
- The kanji of her surname, Kurebayashi, are "twilight, evening; livelihood" (暮 kure) and "tree grove, forest" (林 hayashi).
- The kanji of her given name, Rie, are "reason, truth" (理 ri) and "blessing" (恵 e).