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Mahiru Banba (番場 真昼; Banba Mahiru) is one of the main characters of the manga and anime series Akuma no Riddle. She has a split personality named Shinya Banba (番場 真夜; Banba Shin'ya) who is said to be her twin, according to author Kouga Yun. The two of them are like two souls within the same body. While they can communicate internally, they are never seen simultaneously expressed externally. She was one of the participants in the 10th year's Black Class at Myojo Academy. Like the others, she was trying to kill Haru Ichinose to achieve her goal. Her wish was for a gifted strap from Haru to become a relic, or heirloom, which required Haru's death.

Appearance[]

Mahiru and Shinya both share similar appearances save for small differences. She has long white hair tied in a ponytail, with bangs framing her face. Her skin is fair and noted to be susceptible to damage from the sun.[1] She wears a sailor-style school uniform consisting of a white shirt with a red collar and red cuffs with short sleeves. It also has a black necktie and black skirt. She wears a black stocking on one leg and a white sock on the other to symbolize her alternate personalities. She has a scar over her left eye from when she killed her captor. The pupils in her eyes change to appear more frenzied when Shinya is in control. Her body, while able to lift a heavy hammer, is said to be fragile, and unable to sustain strenuous activity continuously.[2]

Personality[]

She displays symptoms of dissociative identity disorder, where she has two different personalities. As Mahiru, she is a shy and timid girl who often has trouble speaking for herself. She is easily subject to bullying, and is often defenseless. Sometimes, she seems quirky, creating imaginary objects with her hands. She is fixated on the idea of relics, which requires the death of the giver. However, Mahiru herself does not seem able to kill.

In the absence of bright light, often when the sun sets, Mahiru's alternate personality, Shin'ya Banba, appears. Shin'ya is the complete opposite of Mahiru, and refers to herself (or even himself) as "ore (俺)", which is a masculine term. In contrast to her host personality, Shin'ya has an aggressive and borderline insane appearance cultivated to protect Mahiru. She speaks loudly, and with confidence. Shinya always keeps Mahiru's best interests at heart, including wishing for her to enjoy a normal life and killing others to satisfy her desires for relics. Shinya notably also uses imaginary gestures, particularly that of smoking.

Synopsis[]

History[]

Mahiru is revealed to have been kept in a dark room for a indeterminate amount of time in her childhood.[3] She was constantly photographed in demeaning poses and coerced to comply by a person she calls her uncle. He is shown to feed her improperly and give no regard to her pleas for food or freedom. There was always a large amount of flash photography, which contrasted with the dark room in all other instances. All other times, she was kept in the dark alone. When she wasn't banging on the door begging to be let out, she constantly came up with mental exercises to keep herself occupied. This eventually is what culminates in the creation of Shinya, who she made to keep her company.[4] The mistreatment eventually leads her to kill her uncle, though Shinya claims that she was the one who did it for Mahiru. Either way, this event led to the creation of the scar on her face.

Black Class[]

It is unclear how Banba came to be enrolled in the Black Class. Whilst enrolled, she was a meek student who was easily bullied by stronger personalities like Takechi. However, she would be protected by Sumireko often.

Shinya would often bathe in the school bath, surrounded by rubber duckies.

Venus Festival[]

Banba is put in charge of backstage duties for the Romeo and Juliet play, along with Sumireko and Isuke. She shows her skill in embroidery and tailoring here, making most of the costumes for the play herself. It is also here that she is first shown to have an aversion to bright lights, like that of the stage, as well as the camera.

Water Park[]

As part of Suzu's assassination attempt, the entire remaining class goes to the Myoujou water park. As preparations, Mahiru makes her own swimsuit, tailored to look like the ones issued in Japanese schools. She participates briefly in a watermelon-whacking game, but quickly breaks down when she is frightened being blindfolded. When night falls, Shinya switches in and rips off the name tag, declaring that Mahiru has always wanted to wear this swimwear.

Assassination Attempt[]

Shin'ya was the eighth person to attempt an attack on Haru after sending out a warning letter.

She started to attack Haru when Isuke Inukai and Tokaku Azuma were having a raging duel with each other. She showed her warning letter as she broke the door down of the room in which Haru was hiding with the assassin's huge sledgehammer. Shin'ya then tried to hit Haru with the sledgehammer several times, but her attempts were futile. Shin'ya then raised her sledgehammer to strike again but Haru threw her cell phone at her forehead, and when Shinya dropped the hammer, Haru made a run for it out of the classroom and then ran down the hallway into the cooking training room where she hid.

However, that didn't deter Shin'ya from finding her immediately and then cornering Haru for a brief moment; Haru sprayed the fire extinguisher into her face and then made another run for it out of the classroom again. This time she hid herself in the supply room of the girls' washroom. This time, her hiding spot worked, and Shin'ya passed that certain room without a thought. However, a broom inside the room fell, alerting Shin'ya, who decided to come back and destroy each stall door in the room. The systematic "Anyone in there?" followed by a bang served to worry Haru extremely. When her pursuer finally reached the supply's room door, Haru pushed open the door with full force, hitting Shin'ya in the face. This marked the first time during the one-sided fight that Shin'ya took one of Haru's counterattacks seriously. Shin'ya then fell to the ground, which allowed Haru to make another run for it. Shin'ya then decided to take a 10 minute break due to both the unhurried nature of the fight and her head hurting.

Despite taking a break, Shin'ya still caught up with Haru and continuing to strike and miss Haru several more times with her hammer. Haru then ran into the audio visual room, cornered by Shin'ya until Isuke turns on the projector at the top of the room. Its bright light similar to a camera's flash shone directly into Shinya's eyes, reminding her of her terrible past. This forcibly reverts her to Mahiru, who cowers from the light. While Haru tries to protect her, Isuke beats Mahiru, kicking her into the lecture hall seats, knocking her out for the rest of the night.

She and Isuke both become the eighth and ninth person to be expelled from the Black Class.

After Black Class[]

After her expulsion, Hanabusa takes her in with the permission of Nio. Hanabusa takes Haru's charm from Banba to make sure she cannot leave her side. This facilitates Mahiru becoming a maid and living in the Hanabusa manor. At night, Shinya makes repeated attempts to kill Sumireko in order to retrieve the strap. During their time together, Shinya makes it known that one day, Mahiru will no longer need her other self and she will disappear. Sumireko states that she wishes for them both to remain with her.

Manga-Anime Differences[]

In the final chapter of the manga, it's shown that Sumireko Hanabusa, back in her mansion in good condition after the Black Class disbanded, employed Mahiru Banba as her maid.

In the final episode of the anime, while appreciating the view from a hilltop, Mahiru tells Shin'ya that she won't be needing her for a while.

Skills and Abilities[]

Mahiru is shown to be adept at sewing. She supposedly also has a high IQ, according to her male design from Escape 6. Shinya, on the other hand, has great strength that can be used in short bursts. She is able to easily pulverize doors and even solid walls with a hammer.

Trivia[]

  • Mahiru's and Shin'ya's names have polar opposite meanings, with Mahiru's (真昼) "midday" and Shinya's (真夜) "full night". Mahiru / Shin'ya wears a long black stocking and a short white sock, possibly to represent this split personality.
  • Her last name Banba (番場) means "place of matches".
    • Banba can be a reference to Banba [1], a goddess of war as well as a fertility goddess in Irish mythology.
  • The flowers left on her desk were moonflowers and Japanese bindweeds, which mean "bewitching" and "ties". Their Japanese names: "Yorugao" and "Hirugao", literally mean "night face" and "day face" which refers to how Mahiru is the face seen during the day, Shin'ya the face seen at night.
    • In the manga, the flowers placed on Banba's desk were morning glories, meaning "strong bond."[5]
  • In chapter 16, Mahiru mentions that Shin'ya is somewhat concerned about their weight.
  • She was the first and only assassin who wanted to kill Haru without having any desire of reaching a certain goal or gaining any certain reward in mind.
  • Mahiru’s hobby is tangram (a type of chinese puzzle) and Shinya is crosswords puzzle.
  • Mahiru’s favorite food is rice and her least favorite food is dried squid. Shinya’s favorite food is dried squid and her least favorite food is fries.
  • Banba sleeps an average of 6 hours per night.
  • Since her birthday is in May, Banba should have turned 16 during the series.
    • Banba also shares her birthday with her English voice actress, Mikaela Krantz.

References[]

  1. Koakuma no Riddle chapter 6, page 18
  2. Chapter 33, page 1
  3. Chapter 29
  4. Koakuma no Riddle chapter 8, page 24
  5. Chapter 36, page 2
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