OHGI Takaya (UYESUGI Saburo Kagetora) *( ) are their true identities from the Sengoku Period, or Japanese words.
Note that the charaters' positions and affiliations change in time, possibly switching from one side to others. The information is generally applicable to early volumes.
OHGI Takaya (UYESUGI Saburo Kagetora)
OHGI Takaya is a lonely, proud, fiery-spirited 17 year old high school student who has suffered from a violent father, was separated from his divorced mother, and is living in Matsumoto. Bizarre ghostly incidents start to happen in Matsumoto affecting his best friend Yuzuru*. When he meets a mysterious man called Tachibana Yoshiaki, Takaya finds out that he is the reincarnation of Uyesugi Kagetora, the leader of the Uyesugi Yashashu. It is his duty to fight malevolent ghostly troopers and the restless spirits of ancient lords and warriors. <
It seems that here in the twentieth century, all the fierce major warlords and heroes of the Sengoku Period (the Civil Wars) have been reborn in various parts of the country, and have been given a second chance at plunging Japan into the vicious territorial Civil Wars of their own time. Some lords reawaken their failed ambitions to control the country, some pursue revenge on old enemies and recover lost loves, and some nobles just try to protect their homelands and peoples as guardian gods of the lands. Now, the Yami-Sengoku (Dark Civil Wars) are unfolding.
Kagetora has been reborn several times during the last 400 years as the powerful Reincarnate (Kanshosha), with psychic abilities and continuous memories, and with a special power to purify and exorcise unredeemed spirits.
However, his current reincarnation, Takaya, does not have his original memories, and represses his identity as Kagetora, for reasons which are initially unrevealed. Nevertheless, he's thrown into brutal psychic fights with reincarnated fighters and spirits of the land. Initially, he involves himself reluctantly because his beloved friend Yuzuru NARITA is targeted. Soon, Takaya assumes the role of commander and fighter with boundless, sometimes destructive powers. Despite his outside aloofness and darkness, he cares for his men, his close friends and his younger sister, trying to carry on the lonely and thankless duty laid on him by Lord Uyesugi Kenshin* 400 years ago.
Uyesugi Kagetora was a relatively obscure historical figure. He died young in an internal power struggle in the Uyesugi family 400 years ago. He was a son adopted by Lord Uyesugii Kenshin, initially as a hostage from the neighboring Hohjo Clan, but was deeply respected and loved by Lord Kenshin. His birth family the Hohjo, a line of nobles from Shizuoka (Suruga) comes into the picture in vols 8-9 and tries to bring their son Kagetora back to their side.
TACHIBANA Yoshiaki (NAOE Nobutsuna)
TACHBANA Yoshiaki, usually called by his old name NAOE, comes into Takaya's life as a mysterious rescuer, and soon becomes his close helper in carrying on the lonely and hard-fought 400 year old battle to exorcise warring ghosts. He protects Takaya, trying to make him again into a powerful proud leader. However, he seems to have many dark secrets and a lot of guilt from their previous lives together which Takaya does not remember.
In this life, Naoe was born into a Buddhist monk's family, and is now a tall, well-groomed handsome man in his late 20s.
On the surface, Naoe is calm, reserved and competent, albeit too secretive, and a reliable right hand man to Takaya (Kagetora). In a few volumes, however, we discover his true nature, his boundless passion and obsession with Takaya (Kagetora), and his strong attraction to and burning envy of Takaya's superiority. The intense painful love- hate relationship between the two protagonists is a driving force of the whole series.
Naoe loves Takaya and devotes himself entirely to him but he resents Takaya's superior strength, power, and independence in the relationship. Naoe cares for Takaya, calms him when needed, and would die for him, but also nurses a devouring desire for and resentment towards him. It is suggested that Naoe did something brutal and unforgivable 30 years ago to Kagetora's then (female) lover Minako, and the tragedy caused Takaya's loss of memory in this lifetime. Their secrets are to be revealed in the 5-6 th volumes. Takaya initially represses his memories, and then regains his memory as well as his true "Powers" only to start suffering.
Takaya needs Naoe's soothing and attention, but never requites Naoe's love. Proud Takaya lets Naoe want him desperately. Naoe's anger and despair start to consume his ability to endure their lonely reincarnations. Does Takaya love Naoe? Can Naoe leave Takaya before his soul's destruction? What will happen to their brutal love?
If anyone wants to know, they get physical after 20 volumes, which made their fans frantically overjoyed.
CHIAKI Shuhei (YASUDA Nagahide) (vol.2 - )
One of the Uyesugi Yashashu, Takaya's force. Used to be Kenshin's subject/minister once. Currently, a young guy with refined looks and long hair. He is a rather vivacious, easy-going fighter, caring but powerful, and second only to Takaya in his power, particularly in controlling minds. In fact, he is rather independent in his actions and thinking, and once defected from the group doubting the worth of their fights. He now fights with the group for his own reasons and bears complex and ambivalent emotions towards Takaya and Naoe.
KADOWAKI Ayako (KAKIZAKI Haruie) (vol.2 - )
One of Kagetora's army. Currently a beautiful and cheerful woman around 20 years old. Used to be a loyal general in the Uyesugi clan, too. 200 years ago, Haruie's soul had to take a woman's body due to circumstances beyond her control, and fell in love with a man. Since then, she has been taking female bodies every lifetime, because she waits for her lover's soul to reappear.
* Not appearing (UYESUGU Kenshin)
A famous warlord (Daimyo) from Ni'igata (Echigo) (area on the north-west side of Japan across from Korea) called the God of War for his strategic genius and piety to the Buddhist guardian god Bishamonten. Never directly appeared in the series so far.
400 years ago, Kenshin predicted that powerful angry souls would reject kharmatic reincarnation and unredeemed spirits would disturb and distort the country's historical development through their brutal rages, obsessions and curses. He ordered his son-in-law Kagetora to be the leader of the Uyesugi Yashashu after Kenshin's death to police unjustified interventions by those dead. In the present revival of Yami (dark) Sengoku, Kenshin appears to have his unrevealed intentions, and prepares his devotees for some coming event.
NARITA Yuzuru (? Revealed in 8th volume)
Yuzuru is Takaya's best friend, soft-spoken and with a friendly disposition, whom usually loner Takaya truly cares for. He becomes another key figure throughout the whole series with many mysteries. He seems endowed with mysterious sacred Buddhist blessings and miracles, which can destroy the whole Six Worlds, but has no knowledge of them himself, and his past soul/identity in the Sengoku Period would seem to be one of great importance. In the beginning, he's targeted as a surrogate body in which powerful warlords like Shingen and Nobunaga are to be revived. Yuzuru tends to involve himself in psychic wars because of Takaya, and his caring nature towards other people in distress.
The Takeda Clan (Family) from Yamanashi (Kohshu)(mountainous area to the west of Tokyo) and its head Takeda Shingen are famous for their rivalry with the neighboring Uyesugi Clan and its head Kenshin respectively. It seems that Lord Shingen is now also eying territorial expansion into the mid-Japan region at the start of Yami-Sengoku.
(KHOSAKA Danjoh)
Now a young man of mesmerizing cool beauty, Khosaka was originally one of Takeda's 24 generals. He appears in almost every volume as a mysterious conspiring figure who plots complex strategies against the Yashashu but who also sometimes helps them. He knew Kagetora well, since he was once a hostage to the Takeda clan, and his men as well, and talks to them in a familiar style.
(ODA Nobunaga)
His current identity is revealed in the 12th volume. (I was really blown off at the end of 12th volume, difficult to explain without having a preconceived image of the character)
In the Mirage story, Nobunaga is the greatest and strongest enemy of the Yashashu, with the power to destroy human souls so that they cannot even reincarnate. It seems that Kagetora was badly hurt in the fight with Nobunaga in their previous reincarnations 30 years ago. Now the Yashashu are alert to the Demon King's resurrection. Nobunaga is confident, powerful and enjoys destructions. He was a very charismatic figure to his contemporaries (and to us, IMHO)
As an historical figure, ODA Nobunaga is one of the most famous and most popular warlords (Daimyo) of Japanese history. He's given unequivocal credit for unifying the fragmented feudal territories of Japan after a long series of civil wars. In his life, he was recognized as a strategic prodigy and enlightened dictator, with numerous new political and administrative policies. He was also known for his individualistic and determined personality, and his fiery and sometimes demonic temper. He ruthlessly killed many Buddhist rebels, including monks, and was called the Demon King from the Sixth Heaven. He was killed at the age of 49, just before consolidating his predicted position as the ruler of Japan, by AKECHI Mitsuhide, one of his disgruntled region chiefs.
HATAYAMA Satoru (MORI Ran'maru) (vol. 2 - )
Mori Ran'maru starts to appear early in the volumes, usually as an enemy in the Yashashu's wars. He reincarnated as a beautiful young half-Caucasian boy. His presence indicates that the Yashashu's archenemy Nobunaga has resurrection and Rannmaru is preparing the way for his master.
MORI Ranmaru as an historical figure is probably the most famous bishounen in Japanese history. He was a young guard / soldier/ lover (kosho) who served Nobunaga and ultimately died side by side with him. The name Ranmaru could be used almost like Adonis or Narcissus and is ubiquitous in many shoujo and non-shojo writings and mangas.
Ordinary human souls are purified and reincarnated as new human beings in their next lives. Unpurified resenting souls must remain in the world and often bring evil to living humans.
Kanshosha (Reincarnates) are living people who keep their original identity and memories. A Reincarnate takes a real person's body usually when the person is born, replacing the original soul with their own. Technically it is possible to expel somebody's soul from a living human and replace it with one's own. Reincarnates have more supernatural powers than the Possessed, sprits that leech onto human bodies temporarily but cannot implant their souls. Major warlords and fighters are Reincarnates and have their clans and armies of the reincarnates and possessed. They tend to come back to their previous territories.
The world of Mirage is created by its author. However, a strong Japanese (albeit not unique) belief that the resentful specters (onryo) of historical losers haunt history, is important in understanding the world of the Mirage.
For other things, I think some explanation of geography is needed in order to understand the stories (even appearing in dojinshis) because Mirage is also about lands and territories.