Ryuunosuke Umemiya

Ryu is introduced as the leader of a group of Tokyo delinquents who spend their time searching for a permanent gathering place. His reputation and skill with a wooden sword earn him the nickname Bokutō no Ryū, or "Wooden Sword Ryu." His gang follows him with genuine loyalty, and Ryu responds in kind despite the abrasive manner he presents to outsiders. The official anime profile describes him as a notorious delinquent whose defining traits are his wooden sword, carefully styled pompadour and determination to find a "Best Place" for himself and his followers.

One location Ryu's gang claims is the cemetery where Amidamaru's grave stands. Their occupation of the area brings them into conflict with Manta Oyamada and then Yoh. Ryu initially regards Yoh as an irritating outsider and damages Amidamaru's memorial, provoking Yoh into confronting him.

Yoh defeats Ryu by allowing Amidamaru to possess his body. The encounter humiliates Ryu but also introduces him indirectly to the supernatural world that will eventually define his future. More importantly, Yoh refuses to treat him as irredeemable simply because he is a delinquent.

Ryu continues searching for another Best Place after losing the cemetery. His search eventually brings him to an abandoned bowling alley, where he encounters the spirit Tokageroh. Tokageroh recognizes Ryu as a convenient human host and possesses him while pursuing a centuries-old grudge against Amidamaru.

Tokageroh had been a bandit killed by Amidamaru roughly six centuries earlier. Using Ryu's body, he attacks Yoh and attempts to avenge his death. Yoh refuses to destroy Tokageroh outright and instead trusts Ryu's underlying humanity enough to risk resolving the confrontation without sacrificing him.

The incident changes both men. Tokageroh abandons his vendetta, while Ryu develops enormous respect for Yoh. Ryu begins addressing him as "旦那"—essentially "boss" or "master"—and treats Anna Kyouyama as the future proprietress of the Funbari Onsen he intends to help build.

Anna recognizes that Ryu's experience with possession has awakened genuine shamanic potential. He leaves for training under Yohmei Asakura in Izumo, where he learns to form an Over Soul and establishes Tokageroh as his guardian spirit.

Ryu subsequently qualifies for the Shaman Fight and rejoins Yoh's group as a legitimate contestant. His ambition changes accordingly. Rather than seeking a temporary hangout for his gang, he begins imagining Yoh's future world—and eventually Funbari Onsen itself—as the Best Place he has been searching for.

Ryu presents himself as a stereotypically intimidating delinquent. He speaks loudly, threatens people readily and takes enormous pride in both his reputation and his carefully sculpted pompadour. Damage to his hairstyle can provoke a reaction wildly disproportionate to the actual injury.

Beneath that performance, he is intensely sentimental. Ryu values loyalty, friendship and the idea that everyone deserves somewhere they can belong. Official material specifically emphasizes that although his behavior is rough, his trust and sense of obligation toward people he accepts as companions are exceptionally strong.

His lifelong search for a Best Place expresses this side of his personality more clearly than his delinquent reputation does. Ryu is not simply looking for territory. He wants a place where he and the people around him can exist without constantly being displaced or rejected.

That instinct explains why he becomes sympathetic toward outsiders so easily. Tokageroh possesses and manipulates him, yet Ryu later accepts the spirit as a partner rather than holding onto resentment. His willingness to give people another place to belong parallels Yoh's habit of accepting people whom others would dismiss.

Ryu is also intensely emotional. He can cry openly, fall into exaggerated despair and declare loyalty with complete sincerity. His feelings are rarely subtle, and emotional conviction often drives him more strongly than careful planning.

Women are one of his recurring weaknesses. He is easily captivated by attractive women and frequently imagines romantic possibilities that exist only in his own mind. Rejection is common, although it does little to diminish his enthusiasm.

His treatment of his male friends is comparatively straightforward. Once someone earns his respect, Ryu becomes extraordinarily dependable. He can complain, boast and posture, but when serious danger arrives he is willing to put himself between an attack and another person.

Ryu also develops genuine professional pride as a cook. What begins as an aspiration to become the chef of Funbari Onsen becomes a serious skill, and his knife handling eventually contributes directly to his fighting style. His talent for cooking is listed among his established personal specialties.

Ryu is a tall, broad-shouldered young man standing approximately 181 cm during his early appearances. His most distinctive feature is his enormous black pompadour, styled into a long curved crest that extends dramatically above and behind his head.

The hairstyle is central to his self-image. Ryu treats it almost as an emblem of his identity as Wooden Sword Ryu, and its repeated destruction becomes one of his most recognizable visual running gags.

He has dark eyes, heavy sideburns and a muscular build developed through years of street fighting rather than formal athletic training. His facial features are considerably more mature than those of the younger contestants surrounding Yoh.

His early clothing reflects his delinquent persona. Ryu commonly wears an open shirt or jacket, loose trousers and clothing associated with Japanese youth-gang fashion, while carrying the wooden sword responsible for his nickname.

After becoming a shaman, his appearance incorporates equipment suited to tournament combat without abandoning the underlying delinquent aesthetic. His wooden sword becomes an actual spiritual medium rather than merely the weapon of a street fighter.

During his training, Ryu receives Ame no Murakumo, a sacred wooden sword that becomes his primary medium for Tokageroh. The weapon allows him to retain the visual identity of Wooden Sword Ryu even after moving from ordinary brawling into supernatural combat.

His later Over Souls add serpentine and hydrological imagery derived from Japanese mythology. These forms contrast sharply with his human appearance, transforming the straightforward wooden-sword delinquent into a shaman capable of producing enormous spirit constructs.

Before awakening as a shaman, Ryu is already a capable street fighter. He has experience with boxing, kickboxing, improvised weapons and direct brawling, and he is physically strong enough to use a wooden sword with considerable force.

His most important supernatural asset is Tokageroh. After their initial possession incident, the former bandit becomes Ryu's guardian spirit. Tokageroh brings centuries-old combat instincts and knowledge of bladed weapons to a partner whose own fighting style originally relied more on toughness and improvisation.

Ryu trains under Yohmei Asakura to gain deliberate control over his shamanic abilities. Through that training he learns Hyoi Gattai, allowing Tokageroh to merge with his body, and later Over Soul, allowing the spirit to manifest through an external medium.

His principal medium becomes the sacred wooden sword Ame no Murakumo. With Tokageroh inhabiting the weapon, Ryu can convert his ordinary swordsmanship into supernatural attacks.

Ryu's style differs from Yoh's despite both relying on sword-associated spirits. Yoh is comparatively disciplined and precise, whereas Ryu's attacks draw heavily on his physical power, emotional momentum and Tokageroh's aggressive instincts.

His cooking experience also influences his combat ability. Years of using kitchen knives give him strong blade-handling fundamentals, which he incorporates into his shamanic swordsmanship rather than treating cooking and fighting as unrelated talents.

As his abilities develop, Ryu becomes associated with the spirit of Yamata no Orochi, the eight-headed serpent of Japanese mythology. His later Over Soul uses serpentine structures to expand his reach and provide multiple attack directions.

Training with the Chō-Senjiryakketsu dramatically increases Ryu's power. Tokageroh develops into a higher spiritual class, allowing increasingly elaborate manifestations that would have been impossible when Ryu first awakened as a shaman.

Late in the series, Ryu's Furyoku is measured at approximately 85,500, demonstrating how far he has advanced from an ordinary delinquent with no conscious spiritual training.

His greatest strength remains endurance and determination. Ryu is frequently outclassed in technical sophistication but can continue fighting after punishment that would stop less stubborn opponents.

Hyoi Gattai allows Ryu to merge Tokageroh directly with his body. The union gives him access to his guardian spirit's knowledge, instincts and combat experience.

Over Soul: Tokageroh in Ame no Murakumo channels Tokageroh through Ryu's sacred wooden sword, transforming the weapon into a supernatural extension of their combined Furyoku.

Yamata no Orochi manifests a multi-headed serpent-like Over Soul inspired by the legendary eight-headed Japanese dragon-serpent. Its many extensions give Ryu a much broader attack range than ordinary swordsmanship.

Yamata no Orochi Go is a more advanced version of Ryu's serpent-based Over Soul, expanding Tokageroh's spiritual manifestation into a considerably larger combat form.

Ultra Senji Ryakketsu-enhanced Over Soul represents the substantial improvement Ryu achieves after advanced training. Tokageroh's spiritual development enables Ryu to create much stronger manifestations than those used during his early Shaman Fight matches.

Ryu's practical sword attacks do not rely solely on named supernatural techniques. His combination of street fighting, knife handling learned through cooking and Tokageroh's experience allows him to adapt quickly when an Over Soul cannot simply overpower an opponent.

Yoh Asakura begins as Ryuunosuke Umemiya's enemy. Ryuunosuke Umemiya resents Yoh Asakura's interference with his gang's cemetery hangout, while Yoh objects to Ryu's disrespect toward Amidamaru's grave.

Their relationship changes completely after the incident involving Tokageroh. Yoh Asakura saves Ryuunosuke Umemiya while refusing to discard either him or the hostile spirit possessing him.

That act earns extraordinary loyalty from Ryu. Ryuunosuke Umemiya begins calling Yoh Asakura "旦那" and eventually decides that Yoh's future world could become the Best Place he has spent his life searching for.

Ryu's loyalty is not blind obedience. He understands Yoh Asakura's temperament well enough to recognize that Yoh values acceptance over domination, and those values closely resemble the ideals underlying Ryu's own search for belonging.

Tokageroh becomes Ryu's guardian spirit after initially using him as a disposable vessel. Tokageroh possesses Ryuunosuke Umemiya in order to exact revenge on Amidamaru, placing Ryu's life in danger for a feud that began centuries before his birth.

Once the conflict ends, Ryuunosuke Umemiya nevertheless refuses to condemn Tokageroh. He recognizes another individual who has nowhere else to belong.

That acceptance gives Tokageroh a reason to remain in the living world without being consumed by vengeance. Their partnership becomes one of the clearest examples of Ryu's belief that a Best Place is defined by companionship rather than geography.

Amidamaru is initially associated with Ryu's humiliation at Yoh's hands and later with Tokageroh's grudge. Ryuunosuke Umemiya gradually comes to respect Amidamaru as one of Yoh's closest companions rather than an enemy.

Tokageroh's desire to surpass Amidamaru also gives the two guardian spirits a lingering competitive relationship, reflected indirectly in Ryu and Yoh's training.

Anna Kyouyama quickly gains authority over Ryu after he becomes part of Yoh's household. Ryuunosuke Umemiya refers to Anna Kyouyama as "女将," treating her as the proprietress of the future Funbari Onsen.

Although Ryuunosuke Umemiya is intimidated by Anna Kyouyama's temperament and training methods, he also respects her deeply. Her expectations become another reason for him to develop both as a shaman and as a cook.

Yohmei Asakura becomes Ryu's principal early shamanic teacher. Ryuunosuke Umemiya travels to Izumo for training after his latent ability is recognized, and Yohmei Asakura teaches him the foundations needed to participate in the Shaman Fight.

The training is especially important because Ryu begins far later than most serious contestants. Unlike members of established shaman families, he has no childhood education in Furyoku or spirit control.

Manta Oyamada initially encounters Ryu as the threatening delinquent occupying the cemetery. Ryuunosuke Umemiya and his gang intimidate Manta Oyamada, placing them firmly on opposite sides of Yoh's earliest conflict.

After Ryu joins Yoh's circle, the hostility disappears. Manta Oyamada remains physically vulnerable compared with the shamans around him, and Ryu increasingly treats him as part of the same extended group rather than an outsider.

Johann Faust VIII becomes Ryu's teammate in Team Funbari Onsen. Ryuunosuke Umemiya, Johann Faust VIII and Yoh Asakura form the team representing Anna's future inn during the main tournament.

The three provide sharply different capabilities. Yoh Asakura is the team's central fighter, Johann Faust VIII supplies necromancy and medicine, and Ryuunosuke Umemiya contributes physical power, loyalty and increasingly advanced multi-form Over Souls.

Horohoro becomes one of Ryu's regular companions during the journey associated with the Shaman Fight. Their similarly emotional personalities produce frequent arguments, but they also cooperate readily once danger becomes serious.

Ren Tao is considerably more disciplined and aloof than Ryu, yet both ultimately place great importance on the people they recognize as companions. Ryuunosuke Umemiya becomes part of the wider alliance surrounding Ren Tao despite their different backgrounds.

Lyserg Diethel initially impresses Ryu enough that Ryu's reaction to the younger shaman becomes unusually enthusiastic. Ryuunosuke Umemiya's tendency to become infatuated with attractive people creates some confusion when he first encounters Lyserg Diethel.

Their relationship later becomes more serious as Lyserg Diethel's pursuit of revenge pulls him toward the X-LAWS. Ryu remains part of the group hoping that Lyserg will eventually return to Yoh's side.

Tamao Tamamura is another member of the Asakura household whom Ryu encounters after joining Yoh. Ryuunosuke Umemiya's tendency to flirt makes his early interactions with Tamao Tamamura predictably awkward, but he ultimately treats her as part of the Funbari family.

Mikihisa Asakura later contributes to the advanced training of Yoh's allies. Ryuunosuke Umemiya respects Mikihisa Asakura's experience despite his unconventional appearance and behavior.

Hao Asakura represents the overwhelming threat standing against the future Ryu imagines. Ryuunosuke Umemiya cannot approach Hao Asakura's raw Furyoku, but that disparity does not make him abandon Yoh.

Ryu's opposition to Hao Asakura is rooted less in personal revenge than loyalty. If Yoh's world is the Best Place Ryu intends to protect, Hao's plan necessarily threatens everything Ryu has chosen to build.

Ryu first appears during the opening material as an example of an ordinary human antagonist. Before the Shaman Fight has been introduced, he gives Yoh and Amidamaru an immediate problem grounded in everyday Tokyo rather than ancient supernatural politics.

His defeat establishes the effectiveness of Yoh and Amidamaru's partnership. An ordinary fighter who can break grave markers with a wooden sword is still helpless against the synchronization achieved through Hyoi Gattai.

The Tokageroh storyline then reverses Ryu's function. Instead of remaining an episodic delinquent, he becomes the human vessel through which the manga explores a spirit trapped by centuries of resentment.

Yoh's handling of the incident changes Ryu permanently. The same person who once occupied the cemetery as territory begins following Yoh because he recognizes a leader who creates belonging without demanding submission.

Ryu's awakening as a shaman broadens the story's rules as well. He demonstrates that supernatural ability is not limited entirely to ancient families or people trained from birth. A person whose latent sensitivity has been activated can still enter the shamanic world comparatively late.

His return after training creates one of the story's early demonstrations of rapid advancement. Ryu has changed from an ordinary delinquent into someone capable of participating in the Shaman Fight alongside competitors raised for that purpose.

During the journey toward the tournament's main stage, Ryu increasingly becomes both fighter and emotional support. He is rarely the group's strategic leader, but his willingness to act decisively makes him useful when hesitation would be dangerous.

Team Funbari Onsen formalizes his place beside Yoh. Rather than functioning only as one of several traveling companions, Ryu becomes one of the three contestants directly representing Yoh during the team-based phase of the tournament.

His role also keeps the Funbari Onsen dream connected to the tournament. Yoh's victory would have enormous supernatural consequences, but Ryu repeatedly frames the future in much more personal terms: an inn, good food and a place where their friends can gather.

As the conflict with Hao escalates, Ryu becomes increasingly outmatched by the strongest combatants. He nevertheless remains involved, reinforcing the idea that the group around Yoh is held together by loyalty rather than a hierarchy based purely on Furyoku.

During the final assault through the Patch Plants, Ryu fights alongside Yoh's allies against the Patch officiants protecting Hao. The battles demand power far beyond what he possessed during his initial qualification period.

Ryu is killed during the struggle and subsequently restored through the resurrection techniques available to Yoh's group. His return allows him to continue participating in the attempt to reach Hao rather than leaving his role unresolved through death.

Ryu's earliest idea of belonging is territorial. He believes that finding the right physical location—a cemetery, an abandoned building or another unclaimed space—will finally provide the Best Place his gang wants.

Repeatedly losing those locations frustrates him because he has not yet understood that the place itself is secondary. His gang remains loyal regardless of which location they occupy.

Yoh provides the first clear alternative. He has no territory and makes little effort to dominate anyone, yet people and spirits repeatedly choose to stay near him.

Ryu's defeat therefore becomes more important than losing a fight. Yoh demonstrates a form of leadership completely different from the intimidation Ryu has previously relied upon.

Tokageroh tests that lesson immediately. The spirit manipulates Ryu and endangers his body, giving Ryu ample reason to reject him afterward.

Instead, Ryu recognizes Tokageroh as another person with nowhere to go. Accepting him transforms the former enemy into the companion through whom Ryu becomes a shaman.

That decision defines much of Ryu's later development. His strength grows, but his most important characteristic is increasingly his ability to make room for people who have been displaced, rejected or consumed by their own anger.

His ambitions also become more practical. Rather than imagining himself solely as a famous delinquent or Shaman King candidate, he studies cooking seriously and starts envisioning himself as the chef of Funbari Onsen.

The change does not require Ryu to become subdued. He remains loud, emotional, romantic and fiercely proud of his hairstyle.

What matures is the purpose behind that energy. The young man who once fought strangers for control of a cemetery increasingly fights to preserve a community.

His relationship with Yoh becomes the clearest expression of this progression. Ryu does not merely follow Yoh because Yoh defeated him; he follows because Yoh's way of accepting people gives concrete form to the Best Place Ryu had been seeking without knowing how to describe it.

Even when the conflict expands to the level of Hao and the Great Spirit, Ryu's motivation remains rooted in this comparatively simple goal. He wants the people he loves to retain a world in which they can continue living together.

Ryu's full Japanese name is 梅宮竜之介, romanized as Umemiya Ryūnosuke.

The given name Ryūnosuke contains the kanji 竜, meaning "dragon." This creates a direct connection with his nickname, Bokutō no Ryū, because "Ryū" can simultaneously function as a shortened form of his given name and evoke the word for dragon.

His surname Umemiya is written with 梅, meaning "plum," and 宮, meaning "shrine" or "palace."

His nickname 木刀の竜 literally means "Ryu of the Wooden Sword" or "Wooden Sword Ryu." The title predates his awakening as a shaman and refers to the bokutō he carries as a delinquent.

The English dub of the 2001 anime changes his familiar name to Rio, while also localizing "Best Place" terminology differently. Later English adaptations restore the name Ryu or Ryunosuke more closely to the Japanese version.

The sacred wooden sword Ame no Murakumo takes its name from Ame-no-Murakumo-no-Tsurugi, an alternate name associated with the legendary sword Kusanagi in Japanese mythology.

His serpent-based Over Soul references Yamata no Orochi, the eight-headed and eight-tailed dragon or serpent defeated by the storm god Susanoo in Japanese mythology.

The mythological connection is particularly appropriate because Kusanagi is discovered within Orochi's body in the traditional legend, linking Ryu's sacred sword and serpent imagery through the same mythic cycle.

• Ryu was born on December 24, 1980, has blood type O and is a Capricorn. His established profile also lists Tokyo as his place of origin.

• His early height is approximately 181 cm.

• His favorite food is American-style corn dogs, while searching for a "Best Place" is listed as his hobby and cooking as his specialty.

• Masahiko Tanaka voices Ryu in both the 2001 and 2021 Japanese anime adaptations. The 2021 official character page retains him in the role.

• D. C. Douglas voices Ryu in the English dub of the 2021 adaptation, while Sean Schemmel voices the character—localized as Rio—in the earlier English adaptation.

• Ryu's guardian spirit, Tokageroh, begins as an enemy who possesses him rather than a spirit he deliberately chooses.

• His cooking ability is not merely a comedic trait. Knife skills acquired through food preparation contribute to his competence with bladed weapons.

• His Furyoku eventually reaches approximately 85,500, a dramatic increase from the latent shaman who begins the series without formal supernatural training.

Ryu is a major supporting character in the 2001 television adaptation of Shaman King. Masahiko Tanaka voices him in Japanese, while the English adaptation renames him Rio and casts Sean Schemmel.

The older anime preserves his early development from delinquent gang leader to Yoh's ally and Tokageroh's shaman. His obsession with finding a "Best Place" is localized as searching for a "Sacred Hang" in the 4Kids English version.

His gang is likewise localized differently. English-language versions of the 2001 adaptation refer to the group as the Dead Enders, while the Japanese version places greater emphasis on Ryu himself rather than fixing one internationally consistent name for the gang.

Because the 2001 anime eventually diverges from the manga, Ryu's later battles and final progression differ from the completed source storyline. His core identity as Yoh's fiercely loyal friend remains intact.

The 2021 adaptation restores the completed manga narrative. Masahiko Tanaka returns as Ryu, and the official character profile again describes him as the wooden-sword-wielding delinquent searching with his followers for their own Best Place.

The Netflix English dub casts D. C. Douglas as Ryunosuke.

This version includes his later tournament development, Team Funbari Onsen membership and the material leading into the completed final stages of the Shaman Fight.

Ryu also appears in numerous Shaman King games. His playable incarnations typically combine Tokageroh, Ame no Murakumo and variants of the Yamata no Orochi Over Soul.

His unusual pompadour and wooden sword make him particularly easy to translate into game character designs, since both remain recognizable even when his supernatural abilities change between different points in the story.

Later franchise material depicts an older Ryu continuing his connection to Funbari Onsen and the extended Asakura circle, preserving the "Best Place" he spent the original series trying to find.

Ryu occupies an unusual position among Yoh's principal allies because he begins without the pedigree, inherited techniques or childhood training possessed by most major Shaman Fight contestants.

His progression from ordinary delinquent to capable shaman gives the series an example of spiritual development that starts within the main narrative rather than before it. The audience sees him before he understands what a guardian spirit or Over Soul even is.

His visual design also makes him immediately recognizable. The exaggerated pompadour, wooden sword and muscular delinquent silhouette remain distinctive even in a cast containing highly elaborate guardian spirits and supernatural costumes.

The official anime's characterization continues to emphasize the contrast that defines him: he looks and behaves like a rough delinquent, yet is extraordinarily loyal to people he considers companions.

Tokageroh strengthens that contrast. Ryu's most important spiritual partnership begins not through destiny or inheritance, but through an enemy possessing his body for revenge.

Choosing to accept Tokageroh afterward illustrates the same trait that eventually connects Ryu so closely to Yoh. Both characters are unusually willing to give rejected people and spirits another chance.

His repeated search for a Best Place gives that loyalty a concrete objective. Early Ryu imagines belonging as something that must be found somewhere in Tokyo; later Ryu recognizes it in the group assembled around Yoh.

The Funbari Onsen therefore carries unusual significance for him. It is simultaneously a job, a future home and the realization of an aspiration that predates his knowledge of shamans.

His growth as a cook also prevents his future from being defined solely through combat. Ryu becomes stronger throughout the Shaman Fight, but his intended place after the tournament involves feeding and caring for people rather than continuing to search indefinitely for stronger opponents.

By the final stages of the manga, Ryu is no longer the delinquent trying to claim an empty patch of ground. He has found his Best Place in the relationships surrounding Yoh, and much of his willingness to risk his life comes from protecting that community rather than from any personal desire to become Shaman King.