| Kasegi | ||
|---|---|---|
| Gallery | Quotes | Relationship | ||
| ||
| Kana | N/A | |
| Romaji | N/A | |
| Nickname | The Director | |
| Voiced by | Keiji Fujiwara (anime)
Steven Finley (English voice) | |
| Physical Appearance | ||
| Age | N/A | |
| Gender |  Male
| |
| Hair | Black | |
| Eye | Black | |
| Personal Profile | ||
| Occupation | Con Artist | |
| House Guest | Rachnera Arachnera (former, unofficial) | |
| Relatives | Mr President (younger brother) | |
| Media Debut | ||
| Manga | Chapter 14 | |
| Anime | Episode 6 | |
Kasegi (commonly referred to as the Director) is a human con artist and criminal who specializes in scams involving Liminal species. Recently he targeted Kimihito Kurusu and the Kurusu Household because of the large number of Liminals living there. He makes his debut as a minor antagonist in Chapter 14.
Appearance[]
Kasegi is a short, stout man with short black hair and glasses. He wears a dark brown polo with khaki pants. But in the past where he takes Rachnera from her original host for money to host her in instead, he is shown wearing a suit and tie.
Personality[]
At first, Kasegi appears to be a man with a curiosity (or fanaticism) of Liminals of various kinds. He portrays himself as a man gathering information on extraspecies out of interest and to strengthen the understanding and friendship between humans and non-humans.
This façade is used to hide his true intentions of getting rich off of the popularity of extraspecies through various means. Truthfully, he doesn't care at all for extraspecies outside of the potential money he can make off of them. He also has a rather condescending and low opinion of Liminals, gleefully thinking that they are so "gullible" that he could easily use them all he wants.
He also is adept at convincing Liminals as well as humans to give in to his demands. This may mean that other extraspecies may have fallen into his vicious schemes. An example is shown when he persuaded Mero, Miia and Papi to show him embarrassing sides of themselves, especially after they are caught off guard by his absurd and ridiculous questions.
Skills and Traits[]
- Black Market Activity: Kasegi collects biological products such as Lamia skin, Harpy eggs, and Arachne silk from Liminals with hopes of selling them for a high profit. He seems to know the street price of such items and usually has a buyer in mind.
- Criminal Aptitude: As a con artist, Kasegi has multiple scams operating at the same time. His various crimes include but are not limited to: the illegal sale of Liminal goods, trafficking Liminal individuals, fraud, illegal surveillance, and the production of sexual images under false pretenses. He also seems to be adept at avoiding law enforcement as Smith only recently began investigating him.
Possessions[]
- Video Camera (destroyed)
History[]
Not much is known about Kasegi's past, but as revealed in a flashback in Chapter 55, he is the older brother of Mr President, the head of the Black Lily Advanced Materials Laboratory. As it can be seen from Mr President's stance, the two brothers are not on good terms with each other, probably due to Kasegi's criminal dealings with Liminals as well as that he having asked Mr President often for money in the past, so that Mr President thinks his brother is a failure who can't find honest work.
Kasegi is a criminal of the Japanese Liminal black market who has committed verse crimes include but are not limited to the illegal sale of Liminal goods, trafficking Liminal individuals, fraud, illegal surveillance, and the production of sexual images under false pretenses. He pretended to be a film director who was 'researching' and making video recordings in the homes of Cultural Exchange host families under false pretenses, namely to supposedly improve the understanding between liminals and humans. Due to his professionalism and knowledge, such as that he seems to know the street price of Liminal products and that he usually has a buyer in mind, it is implied that Kimihito's homestay girls were just a few of many victims he tried to scam for profit, although more details about this are not known.
After Kasegi somehow learned of the incident between the Kunanzuki family and Rachnera, in which the Arachne accidentally injured Ren, before Chapter 14, he pretended to be a 'free agent'. Ren's parents handed Rachnera over to Kasegi for money, in other words, they sold the Arachne illegally to him. Kasegi was not interested in taking on the role of a real host, as he saw Rachnera only as a source of income for her spider silk which he could sell for a lot of money.
Plot[]
When Papi announces she is about to lay an egg, Kasegi arrives with two associates at the Kurusu House. He claims he wants to document Papi's egg laying on video for informational purposes, but in reality plans to profit off of selling Papi's egg, as harpy eggs can sell for up to three million yen. First he interviews Mero, and after a few questions, he asked Mero if she wears panties, Mero's reply was then interrupted by Miia, Kimihito and Cerea. After Mero, Kasegi then interviews Centorea, in which he also asks if she wears panties which Cerea honestly denies (for Centaurs never wear undergarments). Kasegi then offends Cerea by touching her breasts (to check if she really doesn't wear a bra). Cerea drew her sword at Kasegi, but he said that it is for "understanding and friendship" in which Cerea holds her anger.
After that, he now interviews Miia and asks the same perverted question. He was given Miia's old shed skin after persuading her (he said that snakeskins are considered lucky, and used for Chinese medicine, he also tricked Miia into thinking that he will use it for research purposes saying that it might lead to a new discovery, and saying she can even get married to Kimihito, in which Miia reluctantly agrees as she will do anything just to win Kimihito) which he plans to sell.
Shortly after, Mero told Kimihito that Papi's egg is about to come out (which alerts Kasegi, he's after it for how valuable it is). Kimihito massages Papi's abdomen to help her lay the egg when suddenly Kasegi asks Kimihito to take off her panties. While Kimihito is about to remove Papi's underwear, a series of Kasegi's true intentions are shown, he is doing it for one reason; money. What he didn't realise was that Suu was reading his mind the entire time, which Suu mimicked, infuriating Miia, Cerea and Mero. Kasegi tries to save himself by saying that non-human species can't harm humans. Kimihito then baits Kasegi by throwing "Papi's egg" towards Kasegi, catching him off guard with a punch to the face. The egg turned out to be a chicken egg.
When Smith arrives to arrest his associates, Kasegi promptly disappears and flees back his own home, furious over his failed plans. He was shown gathering thread to sell, and after some harsh words thrown towards a certain arachne, the Arachne gets fed up with him and ties him up in her web.[1]
However, despite being tied up, Kasegi manages to grab his cell phone and call the police, which results in M.O.N. being dispatched to his house. What became of him afterwards is unknown, though he was presumably arrested.[2]
Kasegi did not physically reappear in the series after that, although he is still occasionally mentioned or appears in flashbacks in some chapters due to his role in the incident with Rachnera.
Trivia[]
- Kasegi's name means earning a living in Japanese.
- In the manga Kasegi is shown working with two associates, while in the anime he works alone.
- When Kasegi shows his card in the German dub of the anime, the subtitle is "Kinzo Kasegi". This seems to indicate that "Kasegi" is just his last name.
- However, Ms Smith told Kimihito that all of the informations on Kasegi's business card, including his name, were fake, so Kasegi was not his real name from the start.
- In the official translation of Chapter 26, in the flashback of Ren, the business card that Kasegi showed to Kunanzuki's family when he lied to them about being a "free agent" instead reads "Kusai Usan", probably another false name or pyseudonym of Kasegi.
- However, Ms Smith told Kimihito that all of the informations on Kasegi's business card, including his name, were fake, so Kasegi was not his real name from the start.
- Kasegi probably never found out that Kimihito had just thrown an ordinary chicken egg in his face instead of Papi's egg, as he was knocked out on the ground when Kimihito reassured his worried homestay girls about it. This was confirmed in Chapter 15 when Rachnera said to herself in her mind that she thought Kimihito had some sense of justifice in him, even though he had broken "the Harpy's egg", based on what Kasegi had told her about the events when he thought Kimihito had broken Papi's egg.
Reference[]