Shrine of the Morning Mist

• Ja Kanji — 朝霧の巫女 • Ja Romaji — Asagiri no Miko • Genre — * Comedy • Magical girl • Slice of life

• Type — manga • Author — Hiroki Ugawa • Publisher — Shōnen Gahōsha • Magazine — Young King OURs • First — March 2000 • Last — April 2013 • Volumes — 9 • Volume List — #Volume listing

• Type — tv series • Director — Yuji Moriyama • Music — Tsuneyoshi Saito • Studio — * Chaos Project • Gansis • Network — TV Tokyo, AT-X • First — July 4, 2002 • Last — December 26, 2002 • Episodes — 26 Shrine of the Morning Mist is a Japanese manga written and illustrated by Hiroki Ugawa. The manga was serialized in Shōnen Gahōsha's Young King Ours. It was licensed in North America by Tokyopop and in Australia and New Zealand by Madman Entertainment. The manga was adapted into an anime series, directed by Yuji Moriyama. The anime was licensed in North America by Media Blasters. It tells the story of Yuzu Hieda, a high school freshman and one of three sisters, all of whom are miko at the local Shinto shrine. When her childhood love returns, it is discovered that dark gods have a great interest in him, and Yuzu is recruited to gather fellow students into a "Miko Council" to fight off a full-scale mystic assault. The priestesses have talismans that focus their powers and are used when attacking the dark kami.

In the Media Blasters anime English adaptation, the Miko Council is referred to as the "Priestess Club". • Yuzu Hieda: • She is the middle sister of the Hieda clan, all of whom have trained to be Shinto priestesses. She is a powerful mystic, but naive. She is fixated on her childhood friend Tadahiro, believing they are destined to be together. Her talisman is a ceremonial dagger. Her attack is called "white light beam." She is the leader of the priestess club. • Seiko Rikiishi: • Yuzu's best friend and first recruit to the Miko Council. She is enthusiastic but unlucky with boys. She pretends to be more worldly than Yuzu when in reality she is just as naive. Her talisman item is a spear. Her attack name is "brave girl spear" but Izumi Sakibara thought it was "brave spear girl". • Chika Yurikasa: • Although she is the same age as the other girls, she has a body that resembles that of a ten-year-old. She has a cutting, nasty streak and never hesitates to speak her mind. Her talisman is a tamagushi, a ritual wand made of a branch with leaves. Her attack is called "lyrical flash," but before that it was "moon tornado defusion." • Izumi Sakibara: • A bespectacled girl who is obsessed with UFOs and aliens, and convinced there is a connection between UFOs and the demon invasion. She thinks Chika is extremely cute and loses no opportunity to glomp her, much to Chika's disgust. Her talisman item is a set of ofuda. Her attack is called "secret weopon tachiyon plasma boomerang." • Shizuka Midoh: • A quiet, demure and extremely wealthy girl who hero-worships Yuzu. She tries very hard to be the epitome of Japanese femininity. Her talisman is a ceremonial fan. Her attack is called "tornado blast."

• Kurako Hieda: • The Asagiri Shrine's head priestess, the Miko Council's mentor, and Yuzu's homeroom teacher and older sister. She is extremely knowledgeable and intensely disciplined. She puts the council (including her sister, who is already a priestess) through continual, rigorous training that borders on the sadistic. Her talisman items are a bow (she is a skilled archer) and a large ring that can encircle foes. • Tama Hieda: • The youngest Hieda sister and a priestess-in-training. She takes a perverse glee in teasing her sister about Tadahiro but is basically kind and loving. Her talisman items are a pair of hand chimes. • Naonori Hieda: • The father of the Hieda sisters. He lives at the shrine but does not appear to be a priest; his job is unknown but apparently exhausting. His principal problems are a distrust of Tadahiro's intentions towards Yuzu and the tendency of the rest of the family to almost completely ignore him. • Tadahiro Amatsu: • The cousin of the Hieda sisters. A boy Yuzu's age, he is her childhood friend and they have been carrying a torch for each other for five years. Tadahiro has the power to see the spirit world through his left eye, which is a different color from the right, and is a target of the demons by consequence. • Koma: • A bakeneko or "demon cat" who protected Tadahiro's grandfather. She normally appears as an ordinary black cat but can take human and cat-woman forms to fight. She has an alarming fondness for cake.

• Michimune Ayatachi: • An ancient sorcerer who serves Yagarena, a dark god who wishes to return to the Earth and plunge Japan into darkness. He has the power to summon demons from just about anything, which he uses to menace Tadahiro and Yuzu. • The Twilight Priestesses • Are three "dark miko" recruited by Michimune to fight the Miko Council. Their spiritual powers are roughly equal to those of the Miko Council, but their skill is greater. • Kukuri Shirayama • * • Mizuho Hamaji • * • Yukie Uranami • * • Masashi Kusugi: • A handsome student in Yuzu and Tadahiro's class. Although popular, he is arrogant and cutting and does everything in his power to hamper and humiliate Yuzu. Chika took some pictures that led her to believe he was having a romance with Tadahiro. In reality, Kusugi is a disguise used by Michimune to infiltrate the school and hamper his enemies.

The real-life city of Miyoshi, Hiroshima was used as the basis for the location of the anime. Miyoshi has an abundance of mist in the morning (hence the series' title), and the folktales recorded in Inō Mononoke scroll (which inspired much of the anime's story) took place on a mountain near Miyoshi City. The mountain appears prominently in Shrine of the Morning Mist.

Shrine of the Morning Mist is written and illustrated by Hiroki Ugawa. Shōnen Gahōsha released the manga's nine tankōbon volumes between January 2001 and April 30, 2013. The manga was licensed in North America by Tokyopop, which released the manga's first four tankōbon volumes between May 9, 2006, and May 1, 2007, as of July 2009. The series is licensed in France as Asagiri - Les prêtresses de l'aube by Editions Ki-oon.

The episodes of Shrine of the Morning Mist anime series are based on the manga written by Hiroki Ugawa. The anime series was directed by Yuji Moriyama. There were 26 episodes broadcast by TV Tokyo and AT-X between July 4, 2002, and December 26, 2002. Media Blasters licensed and released the series for a Blu-Ray Disc release.