Riddle Story of Devil

Riddle Story of Devil

Cover of Riddle Story of Devil volume 1.
悪魔のリドル
(Akuma no Ridoru)
Genre Action, Psychological thriller, Suspense, Yuri
Manga
Written by Yun Kōga
Illustrated by Sunao Minakata
Published by Kadokawa Shoten
English publisher
Demographic Seinen
Magazine Newtype
Original run September 2012 – ongoing
Volumes 3
Anime television series
Directed by Keizō Kusakawa
Written by Kiyoko Yoshimura
Music by Yoshiaki Fujisawa
Studio Diomedéa
Licensed by
Network MBS, TBS, CBC, AT-X, BS-TBS
English network
Original run April 3, 2014 – June 19, 2014
Episodes 12 + OVA

Riddle Story of Devil (Japanese: 悪魔のリドル Hepburn: Akuma no Ridoru, lit. Devil's Riddle) is a Japanese manga series written by Yun Kōga and illustrated by Sunao Minakata. It started serialization in Kadokawa Shoten's Newtype magazine with the September 2012 issue. An anime adaptation directed by Keizō Kusakawa and animated by Diomedéa aired in Japan between April and June 2014. The series is licensed for streaming by Funimation in North America and Madman Entertainment in Australia.

Plot

At a private girls' boarding school, Myōjō Academy, thirteen girls are transferred into the academy's "10th Year Class Black" (10年黒組 Jū-nen Kuro-gumi). Of these thirteen students, twelve are assassins from various backgrounds who are all tasked with assassinating the remaining student, a girl named Haru Ichinose. If they succeed, they will be granted any wish they desire, but if they fail, they are expelled from the class. However, one of the assassins, Tokaku Azuma, has sworn to protect Haru from the other assassins.

Characters

Tokaku Azuma (東 兎角 Azuma Tokaku)
Voiced by: Ayaka Suwa (Japanese), Morgan Berry[1][2] (English)
No. 1 of Class Black, the protagonist of the story. Tokaku is a distant and cold girl who comes from the infamous Azuma family, a feared family of skilled assassins. Though Tokaku appears strong with her stoicism, she is mentally rather weak, easily influenced by others, and makes little decisions for herself. Tokaku dislikes it when other people try to get close to her, and she especially hates being called by her first name, but Haru compromises and calls her "Tokaku-san". She is skilled with using knives, and has exceptionally quick reflexes. It is soon revealed that Tokaku has never killed anyone before, despite possessing very useful skills as an assassin, due to the influence of her mother and aunt not wanting her to become a murderer like them. During her time in Class Black, Tokaku becomes Haru's protector, for reasons even she does not know.
The reason Tokaku defected to Haru's side was that she was unconsciously influenced by Haru's "queen bee" ability. In the anime she ends up resuming her attempt to assassinate Haru in order to find out for sure if her defection has been an exercise of her own free will all along. She successfully stabs her, only to express in regret her wish to be with Haru. However, Haru ends up surviving the attack, leading to Tokaku's expulsion. After Haru's graduation, Tokaku, now understanding that her attraction to Haru has nothing to do with Haru's manipulative ability, reunites with Haru.
Haru Ichinose (一ノ瀬 晴 Ichinose Haru)
Voiced by: Hisako Kanemoto (Japanese), Alexis Tipton[2][1] (English)
No. 13 of Class Black, the second main character. Haru is a bright and cheerful girl, who aims to become friends with everyone. She is kind and naive to everyone without fail until they become hostile with her. Haru is the target that everyone in the class is after. She has strange scars on her thighs, which were discovered by Tokaku by flipping up her skirt. She is later shown to not only have scars on her thighs, but all over her body as well. She is uncomfortable with people looking at them.
Haru possesses an ability, exclusive to her clan, known as the "queen bee" ability, that attracts, controls and manipulates people, like how a queen bee controls her worker bees. This ability of Haru's is why Class Black was created, as a rite of passage to see if she was able to become the clan's newest primer. Tokaku became her protector due to being unconsciously influenced by this ability. Upon discovery of Haru's queen bee ability, however, Tokaku resumes attempting on her life. Haru, resolving to graduate the Class Black alive, tries unsuccessfully to fight back. Despite being stabbed in her heart by Tokaku, however, Haru is saved by the knife deflecting off her ribs, which had been replaced with titanium ones, and therefore becomes the sole participant in the graduation ceremony of the Class Black. As per her wish, she is allowed to leave her clan and live a normal life. With diplomas of her other classmates in possession, she is joined by Tokaku and embarks on a trip to personally deliver those diplomas.
Isuke Inukai (犬飼 伊介 Inukai Isuke)
Voiced by: Azumi Asakura (Japanese), Jamie Marchi[2][1] (English)
No. 2 of Class Black, a selfish and haughty girl. She is very blunt and quick to express her opinion, and likes to command other people, such as making Haruki call her "Isuke-sama". Isuke's family includes her gay parents, who aren't related to her by blood at all. When she was younger Isuke was subject to violence from her family, who by the time her adoptive "mother", a professional killer called Eisuke, rescued her from her family have already killed her brother. After rescuing her from her biological parents by killing them, Eisuke adopted and then trained her as a successor (her adoptive father has a legitimate job and is apparently unaware of Eisuke's true occupation and plan with Isuke). She is proficient in knife fighting.
Her goal is to get money from killing Haru so her parents can retire. She teams up with Shinya but later betrays her. Tokaku successfully intervenes but chooses to spare her and instead merely incapacitate her, leaving her bound and gagged by the time Sumireko finds her. She is the 9th student of Class Black to be expelled. She is seen in the finale going on a vacation in a beach resort with her family, with Eisuke consoling her for failing to kill Haru.
Kōko Kaminaga (神長 香子 Kaminaga Kōko)
Voiced by: Haruka Yoshimura (Japanese), Clarine Harp[2][1] (English)
No. 3 of Class Black, the class representative; a quiet, bookish, and somewhat distant girl. She is shown to use both improvised and purposed-made explosives as a weapon. Kōko is an orphan raised by a Christian church to be an assassin. However despite training, she isn't cut out for the life of an assassin, which she realizes after accidentally blowing up her mentor. Her wish in exchange for killing Haru is to be able to leave the life of being an assassin altogether.
Kōko is the 2nd student of Class Black to be expelled. Following her expulsion, she leaves the church anyway and, now hunted by agents of her former employer, resolves to fight for her freedom to honor her mentor.
Hitsugi Kirigaya (桐ヶ谷 柩 Kirigaya Hitsugi)
Voiced by: Mami Uchida (Japanese), Natalie Hoover[1] (English)
No. 4 of Class Black, a girl who resembles an elementary-school student. She has a bad sense of direction, as demonstrated when she got lost on her way to Myōjō Academy. Although Hitsugi looks like the horribly unreliable type, she is in reality an assassin part of the organization named Angel's Trumpet, a group of assassins who deal in poison, and is personally responsible for the death of Chitaru's mentor's daughter. During her time at Myōjō Academy, Hitsugi comes to fall in love with Chitaru. She shows a possessiveness of Chitaru, getting enraged at and poisoning Shiena for daring to have feelings for her, leading to Shiena's removal from the class.
After learning Chitaru's true purpose behind coming to Myōjō and actually promising to help, she discloses her identity to Chitaru and subsequently allows Chitaru to kill her with a real dagger during a theatrical play of Romeo and Juliet, where they play the leading roles and the titular characters' mutual suicide at the end. It is then revealed through Nio that Hitsugi's wish was to remain together with Chitaru beyond the end of Class Black, although her initial goal, the one prior to meeting Chitaru, is never made clear.
She and Chitaru Namatame are the 5th and 6th students to be removed from Class Black. It is later revealed that she and Chitaru survived, and Hitsugi is seen visiting Chitaru while she is undergoing rehab at the hospital.
Shiena Kenmochi (剣持 しえな Kenmochi Shiena)
Voiced by: Yūki Yamada (Japanese), Anastasia Munoz[2][1] (English)
No. 5 of Class Black, a cheerful girl and slightly scatterbrained girl. She is better at analysis than she is at assassination, and was able to figure out Chitaru's and Hitsugi's fighting styles just by watching them closely. Shiena is part of an organization named the Collective Dismissal, made up of victims of severe bullying. As a result, Shiena is very unforgiving of those who bully. Shiena was planning to kill Haru on the day of their stage play; however, on the night of her planned declaration, she was caught and then knocked out with poison by Hitsugi, who personally poisoned her for daring to have feelings for Chitaru. She becomes the 4th student of Class Black to be expelled while remaining hospitalized, as she is judged incapable of resuming the hit before her declaration expires.
The ending of the anime reveals her to be a skilled hacker; following her expulsion, she is seen attempting to hack into the academy in order to expose it to the public. No mention is made of her backstory nor her motive for killing Haru.
Haruki Sagae (寒河江 春紀 Sagae Haruki)
Voiced by: Fumiko Uchimura (Japanese), Carli Mosier[2][1] (English)
No. 6 of Class Black, a tomboyish yet fashionable girl who is always shown eating pocky. Haruki is rather carefree, calm and relaxed—to the point where she even views her own death in a calm fashion—but is sensitive about her adoptive family, in which she has many siblings, and wants to keep them protected and safe at all costs. Haruki is shown to go to extremes in order to achieve her goals—when she learnt from Nio that her own death would still ensure her wish was granted even if she failed to kill Haru, Haruki set up a trap with the intention of taking her own life. Though she survived, Haruki was only merely disappointed about her failure.
Haruki is the 3rd student of Class Black to be expelled. Following her expulsion, she works as a construction worker and studies to get into college.
Suzu Shutō (首藤 涼 Shutō Suzu)
Voiced by: Chika Anzai (Japanese), Michelle Rojas[2][1] (English)
No. 7 of Class Black, a somewhat sly girl who likes being physically active and fit. Her wish was to find a cure to the Highlander Syndrome, which caused her to not be able to age normally. When Class Black was participating in a pool party, Suzu installed a timed bomb in Haru's breather, which can only be opened with a 4-digit password that spells the birth date (15th July) of her past love. Tokaku manages to find the password and deactivates the bomb, whereupon Suzu surrenders.
She is the 7th student of Class Black to be expelled. She is seen in the finale at her past lover's grave, bidding him farewell for the last time and resolving to live her life to the fullest.
Otoya Takechi (武智 乙哉 Takechi Otoya)
Voiced by: Manami Numakura (Japanese), Colleen Clinkenbeard[2][1] (English)
No. 8 of Class Black, dubbed the "Jack the Ripper of the 21st Century" outside of Myōjō Academy for her serial killer antics, Otoya is a sadist who hides her true nature under the guise of an extremely playful girl. Her main obsession is with scissors, which she carries a whole bag of them around her waist. Her reason for wanting to kill Haru Ichinose is so that she can get serial killer insurance, so she can continue her murder spree without any fear of being captured. Otoya is notably seen to be scared of Nio, showing that she knows of Nio's true nature.
Otoya is the 1st student of Class Black to be expelled. She later breaks out of prison, and attempts to attack Haru again, but is thwarted by Sumireko and captured once again by Nio. She is seen back in jail during the finale, planning her next escape though admitting that it will be years in the making.
Chitaru Namatame (生田目 千足 Namatame Chitaru)
Voiced by: Sachika Misawa (Japanese), Monica Rial[1] (English)
No. 9 of Class Black, a girl with a demeanor that is both princely and mature. She was the one who showed Hitsugi the way when the latter got lost on her way to Myōjō Academy, and has since almost never been seen without Hitsugi. Though part of Haru's class, she has no real interest in the objective of the class; her real goal is to avenge her mentor's daughter after learning that Angel's Trumpet, the assassin responsible, will join the class as well. She aims to kill Angel's Trumpet so that her mentor could find closure and be happy again.
After disclosing her true identity as Angel's Trumpet, Hitsugi allows Chitaru to kill her during a theatrical play of Romeo and Juliet using a real dagger, but immediately afterward Chitaru learns Hitsugi's wish was to remain together with her beyond the end of Class Black. Having resolved to grant Hitsugi this wish, Chitaru commits suicide using poison removed from Hitsugi's stash earlier.
She and Hitsugi Kirigaya are the 5th and 6th students to be removed from Class Black. It is later revealed that she and Hitsugi survived, though Chitaru's state was negatively affected by the poison she drank, and that Chitaru is undergoing rehab at the hospital.
Nio Hashiri (走り 鳰 Hashiri Nio) / Nio Kuzunoha (葛葉 鳰 Kuzunoha Nio)
Voiced by: Yoshino Nanjō (Japanese), Lauren Landa[1] (English)
No. 10 of Class Black, Nio is an energetic and upbeat girl with a knack for peeping into other people's businesses, though she occasionally shows a more dangerous side. Despite being part of Class Black, she is also affiliated with the academy in some way, working for the chairwoman Meichi Yuri. Nio is always seen wearing full body outfits in order to conceal the large, bird-like tattoos she bears. It is revealed that Nio comes from the infamous Kuzunoha family, a feared family of skilled assassins that use illusions, and has no relatives. Upon meeting Meichi, Nio fell in adoration with her and vowed to give up her whole life to serve her. Meichi took her in, with Nio changing her last name from "Kuzunoha" to "Hashiri".
Later, Nio attempts to assassinate Haru, while disguised as Tokaku, but ends up stabbed in the chest by the real Tokaku. Nio survives from being stabbed, despite no explanation being given on how it comes to pass, and in monologue congratulates everyone for graduating from Class Black.
Sumireko Hanabusa (英 純恋子 Hanabusa Sumireko)
Voiced by: Miho Arakawa (Japanese), Bryn Apprill[1] (English)
No. 11 of Class Black, a girl with a frail body who is the daughter of a company CEO. It is revealed that, much like Haru, she had been targeted most of her life, and had lost her limbs in an attack. These were replaced with limbs with powerful robotic parts, that can be swapped out for various gadgets and weapons, thus making her into a cyborg. She invites Haru to a tea party and then attempts to attack her, wanting to prove she is the strongest "queen", but is outsmarted by Haru and knocked off the side of a building.
She is the 10th student to be removed from Class Black. Following her expulsion, she decides to pursue a career in cooking rather than succeeding her father as the company CEO. The creator has stated that Sumireko has a crush on her roommate, Banba.
Mahiru Banba (番場 真昼 Banba Mahiru) / Shinya Banba (番場 真夜 Banba Shin'ya)
Voiced by: Yuka Ōtsubo (Japanese), Mikaela Krantz[1] (English)
No. 12 of Class Black, Mahiru is a shy and timid girl who often has troubles speaking for herself. She is easily subject to bullying, and is often defenseless. However, when the sun sets, Mahiru's split personality, Shinya, takes over. Shinya is the complete opposite of Mahiru, having an aggressive, hostile and almost unstable personality. Mahiru's split personality was created as protection due to abuse as a child, implied to be sexual in nature, which involved camera flashes that left her afraid of bright light; this is why Shinya only comes out at night and is sensitive to light. She obtained the scar on the right side of her face from when snapped and she killed her abuser. Shinya has a form of super strength that allows her to use heavy weapons such as sledgehammers; however she cannot sustain this ability over too long a period of time, and must rest every now and then.
It turns out that although Shinya seems hostile and unstable, she is only acting on Mahiru's orders and wishes, hinting that Mahiru is in fact the more unstable of the two. Since Mahiru is too timid to carry out crimes and murders, Shinya does it for her. Even so, Shinya cares deeply for Mahiru and seeks to bring her protection and happiness, and neither personalities have a wish to fulfill by killing Haru, as it was already granted when Haru shared a handmade charm with Mahiru, since Mahiru is in fact a collector of relics from people she kills or expects to kill someday. Shinya teams up with and is betrayed by Isuke, being knocked unconscious by her, thus becoming the 8th student of Class Black to be expelled. Following her expulsion, Mahiru loses her split personality, but she comes to terms with it and is not scared of the light anymore.
Kaiba (カイバ)
Voiced by: Tomokazu Sugita (Japanese), Robert McCollum (English)
A mysterious man who is Tokaku's teacher. Kaiba is often seen rolling dice, and has a black-and-white motif and colour scheme. He periodically sends Tokaku riddles via text messages, though these riddles actually have no answers; he wants to coach Tokaku into finding answers for herself.
Ataru Mizorogi (溝呂木 辺 Mizorogi Ataru)
Voiced by: Takahiro Sakurai (Japanese), Ricco Fajardo (English)
Class Black's homeroom teacher; an eccentric, enthusiastic, and dedicated man who is unaware that the girls in his class are assassins. Whenever a student is expelled after failing to kill Haru, he is told that the student has transferred out due to unknown circumstances.
Meichi Yuri (百合 目一 Yuri Meichi)
Voiced by: Yoshiko Sakakibara (Japanese), Rachel Robinson (English)
The chairwoman of the school and the supervisor of Class Black, who shares the same clan as Haru. She assembled Class Black in order to test if Haru could survive against twelve assassins, in order to awaken her queen bee ability and gain her status as the newest primer of her clan. Meichi is also Nio's caretaker, having taken her in from the Kuzunoha clan, and is said to have saved Nio using her own queen bee ability.

Media

Manga

Riddle Story of Devil is written by Yun Kōga and illustrated by Sunao Minakata. It started serialized in the September 2012 issue of Kadokawa Shoten's Newtype magazine.[3] The first tankōbon volume was published on July 9, 2013; the third followed on December 10, 2014.[4][5] Seven Seas Entertainment began publishing the series in North America starting in October 2015.[6] The English version is available on Kadokawa's website BookWallker.[7]

Anime

An anime adaptation directed by Keizō Kusakawa and produced by Diomedéa aired in Japan between April 3, 2014 and June 19, 2014. The screenplay is written by Kiyoko Yoshimura and chief animation director Naomi Ide bases the character designs used in the anime on Sunao Minakata original designs.[8][9] The opening theme is "Sōshō Innocence" (創傷イノセンス, "Wounded Innocence") by Maaya Uchida, while each episode features a different ending theme sung by voice actresses of the anime. The series is licensed for streaming by Funimation in North America and Madman Entertainment in Australia, and is being simulcast by Crunchyroll outside of North America.[10][11][12] Anime Limited acquired the series for a release in the United Kingdom.[13]

Episode list

# Episode title[14] Ending theme Original air date
1 "The World is Full of ___"
"Sekai wa □□ ni Michiteiru" (世界は□□に満ちている) 		"Paradox" (パラドクス Paradokusu) by Ayaka Suwa as Tokaku AzumaApril 3, 2014
A skilled assassin named Tokaku Azuma is transferred into Myōjō Academy's "Class Black", tasked with identifying and killing a target amongst her twelve classmates, the rest of whom are also assassins. At her first homeroom class, consisting of five of the total 13 students, Tokaku finds herself drawn towards a kindly girl named Haru Ichinose, believing she may be the target. As Tokaku spends more time with Haru, who is revealed to be her roommate, she notices some knife wounds on her legs. After encountering her various classmates throughout the evening, Tokaku, who had also been tasked by her teacher, Kaiba, with solving a puzzle reading "The world is filled with (___)", becomes bewildered when Haru suggests "forgiveness" as an answer. 
2 "What Dwells In Your Heart?"
"Mune no Naka ni Iru no wa?" (胸の中にいるのは?) 		"Kinō, Kyō, Ashita" (昨日、今日、明日, lit. "Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow")
by Hisako Kanemoto as Haru Ichinose		April 10, 2014
Tokaku is surprised when Kaiba replies that "forgiveness" is the correct answer to his riddle. The next school day, as more students join Class Black, Haru decides to have lunch with Tokaku, whilst the other students hear from Nio Hashiri about a meeting concerning their mission. Later that day, classmate Isuke Inukai comes around to have tea with Haru, slipping her a sleeping drug with the intent of drowning her in a bath whilst she is asleep. When Tokaku learns from Haruki Sagae that Isuke is targeting Haru, she rushes back to her room to stop Isuke, fighting against her to protect Haru. Isuke overwhelms her after Tokaku becomes hesitant to kill her, but decides to take her leave. After Tokaku regains consciousness, Haru, who was actually aware of what was happening and knows she is being targeted, asks her why she came to her rescue, stating her determination to graduate from Class Black alive to honor her family who died protecting her. That night, a meeting is held amongst the other assassins where they are briefed on their mission, which is to be kept secret from the other students and their homeroom teacher, Ataru Mizorogi. Each assassin is given one opportunity to assassinate Haru, and whoever kills Haru first will have any wish they desire granted, with those who fail their assassinations within 48 hours of giving an advance warning becoming expelled. Upon arriving at the meeting, Tokaku announces that she has defected to Haru's side and will be her protector. 
3 "What's Red, But Isn't Red?"
"Akai no ni, Akakunai no wa?" (赤いのに赤くないのは?) 		"Concentration" by Manami Numakura as Otoya TakechiApril 17, 2014
With the higher ups approving of Tokaku's role as Haru's protector, the meeting comes to a close. The next day, Haru receives an advance warning that her life is being targeted and decides not to inform Tokaku, becoming determined to defend herself. Later, as Class Black visits a botanical garden, Haru is befriended by Otoya Takechi, unaware that she is the one who sent the warning. Later that night, Tokaku warns Haru not to be so naive and explains the rules concerning her assassination, but Haru states her hope that the other assassins could legitimately become her friends and none will have to die. The next day, Otoya uses an opportunity to get close to Haru and knock her out with some neurotoxin carrying flowers, before trapping Tokaku in a boiler room so she cannot interfere. Tokaku manages to escape and learns from the others that Otoya, who is revealed to be a serial killer who gets sexual pleasure from killing her victims, is the one who sent the notice. As Tokaku manages to reach their location and fight against Otoya, she is almost killed but is saved when Haru uses the same flowers to knock Otoya unconscious. With her 48 hour time limit up come the next morning, Otoya is transferred out of Class Black by the group's ringleader, Nio Hashiri. 
4 "What Comes Suddenly and Never Leaves?"
"Totsuzen Yattekite, Kaerukoto no Nai Mono wa?" (突然やってきて、帰ることのないものは？) 		"Across the Fate" by Haruka Yoshimura as Kōko KaminagaApril 24, 2014
As Class Black undergo mid-term exams, Tokaku and Haru hear from Chitaru Namatame, who is often seen with Hitsugi Kirigaya, that she is not targeting Haru, as she joined the Class Black for a different reason, before later hearing an urban legend from Nio about a hidden room in the library. Upon returning to their room, Tokaku and Haru discover another advance warning, also discovering some bombs has been planted in their freezer. The culprit this time around is Kōko Kaminaga, an assassin specialising in explosives who was exiled from her organisation after her teacher was killed in a failed bombing attempt, which Kaminaga herself was responsible for, as she had set the timing that the bomb would go off at too early, which killed her teacher, instead of their target. Despite knowing the danger, Tokaku accompanies Haru to the library and manages to locate the hidden room from Nio's rumors. There, Tokaku narrowly manages to protect Haru from a hidden bomb and pursues Kōko, who wanted to use her wish to quit being an assassin, managing to disarm her and stop her attempt, leading her to be transferred out of Class Black the next day. 
5 "What Do You Need in Order to Let a Caged Bird Free?"
"Kago no Tori o Sotonidasu ni wa?" (籠の鳥を外に出すには?) 		"Dōtte Koto Nai Sympathy" (どうってことないsympathy, lit. "No-Big-Deal Sympathy") by Fumiko Uchimura as Haruki SagaeMay 1, 2014
After recalling about her past with her family, she receives another riddle from Kaiba. Meanwhile, Class Black is tasked with putting on a performance of Romeo and Juliet for the academy's culture festival, with Chitaru and Hitsugi playing the lead roles. As the classmates work on the play together, Tokaku becomes irritated by Haruki Sagae's harsh words towards Haru during bathtime. The next evening, Haruki, who desires to have her family provided for, calls out Haru to the gym, where the play is being held, and attempts to kill her with piano wire, only for Tokaku to arrive in the nick of time. As Tokaku gets the upper hand in battle, Haruki, having confirmed with Nio that her family would be provided for even if she died in the process, triggers a trap that causes the lighting structures to come down on top of them. Tokaku barely manages to rescue Haru in time whilst Haruki, having barely survived herself, accepts her defeat and is transferred out of Class Black. 
6 "Beautiful Flowers Have Their ___"
"Kirei na Hana ni wa □□ ga aru" (綺麗な花には□□がある) 		"Poison Me" by Sachika Misawa as Chitaru Namatame and Mami Uchida as Hitsugi KirigayaMay 8, 2014
As the culture festival begins, Chitaru mentions to Hitsugi about how she is searching for a killer known as Angel's Trumpet who specializes in poison, to which Hitsugi offers to help her out. Later that night, Hitsugi comes across Shiena Kenmochi, who was planning to deliver a warning to Haru, and sprays her with poison before delivering her own warning to Haru when she and Tokaku comes across the scene. The next day, as Shiena is transferred out of Class Black due to her hospitalization, the play gets underway, with Tokaku and Haru discovering many of the prop swords have been covered in poison. Spotting this, Chitaru suspects that Haru is Angel's Trumpet, the one who killed her teacher's daughter, and faces against Tokaku in an off-stage sword fight. During the battle, Hitsugi comes forward and confesses that she herself is Angel's Trumpet. Returning to the play, Hitsugi allows herself to be stabbed by Chitaru, who then learns from Nio that her wish was to leave with her once everything was over. Feeling remorse, Chitaru drinks the remainder of Hitsugi's poison and falls alongside her, with the audience unaware. 
7 "What Can Never Be Caught Up To?"
"Eien ni Oikosenai mono wa?" (永遠に追い越せないものは?) 		"Suzukaze" (すずかぜ, lit. "Cool Breeze") by Chika Anzai as Suzu ShutōMay 15, 2014
As Class Black prepares to go to the school's pool, Suzu Shutō straps a bomb around Haru's neck, set to explode at midnight. In order to disable it, Tokaku is tasked with finding four cards that make up a 4-digit password required to unlock the bomb, of which she is only allowed three tries. Tokaku finds the first card, a seven of diamonds, inside a watermelon, but loses her first password attempt whilst testing out a theory that the other digits are the sevens taken out of the deck they came from. Tokaku finds the second card, a joker for zero, on a searchlight, and finds the third hidden in the deck itself. Meanwhile, after Ataru shows up to congratulate Suzu on her birthday, Suzu explains to the others that she has a condition that prevents her body from aging, which led to a man she admired coming to outage and leave her, and her wish is to be able to age normally and eventually die. With less than fifteen minutes til minute, Tokaku rides in the flume in search for the fourth card, but becomes trapped inside a cage which sinks to the bottom, giving the choice of either saving Haru or herself. Haru then kisses Tokaku, which awakes Tokaku, who then witnesses Haru saving her, leaving them with only three digits to guess the password from. Tokaku presumes from Ataru's announcement that the password is likely to be Suzu's birthday, whilst Haru deduces that the actual date is that of the man she admired, managing to disarm the bomb at the last second. Accepting her loss, Suzu takes her leave from Class Black. 
8 "Which Gatekeeper is the One Who Lies?"
"Usotsuki no Monban wa Dochira?" (嘘つきの門番はどちら?) 		"Mayonaka no Tōbō" (真夜中の逃亡, lit. "Escape at Midnight") by Yuka Ōtsubo as Mahiru/Shinya BanbaMay 22, 2014
While Isuke contacts her mother, who trained her to become an assassin, Nio meets up with the school's chairman, Yuri, to discuss Class Black's current situation, learning that a typhoon is approaching. Meanwhile, Tokaku and Haru are approached by Shinya, the split personality of Mahiru Banba who appears during the night, leading Tokaku to believe that she will be the next one to target Haru. The next day, as Tokaku wonders what she will do when Class Black is over, she and Haru discover an advance warning, which appears to be from Mahiru/Shinya, and rush back to their dorms. However, they are confronted by Isuke, the real owner of the warning, who injures Tokaku's arm. Tokaku takes Haru to the biology room, telling her to hide there whilst she goes to confront Isuke, who calls Tokaku's bluff that she is actually unable to kill anyone. With Tokaku distracted by her fight against Isuke, Shinya appears before Haru, declaring her intent to kill her. 
9 "What Dwells In Your Heart? (Make-up Test)"
"Mune no Naka ni Aru no wa? (Tsuishi)" (胸の中にいるのは?(追試)) 		"Tenshi no Smile ♥" (天使のスマイル♥ Tenshi no Sumairu ♥, lit. "Angelic Smile ♥") by Azumi Asakura as Isuke InukaiMay 29, 2014
It is shown that Tokaku's inability to kill came from her aunt, who followed her sister's wishes to not have Tokaku grow up to a killer like the rest of her bloodline. With Tokaku still locked in battle with Isuke, Haru attempts to escape from Shinya's violent mallet attacks on her own esteem. After receiving another message from Kaiba, Tokaku manages to stun Isuke with a taser hidden in her shoe and escape. However, she falls into a trap laid out by Isuke and is pushed off a bridge. Meanwhile, Haru is chased to the A/V room of the school, where Isuke uses a projector's light to cause Shinya to experience traumatic memories and knocks her out before turning her attention towards Haru. Tokaku, who had managed to survive her fall, finally comes to understands how her mother and aunt protected her with their lives and overcomes her hesitation, stopping Isuke and rescuing Haru. With both Isuke and Shinya defeated, the remaining classmate, Sumireko Hanabusa, prepares to make her move. 
10 "Who Is The Queen?"
"Jo-ō wa Dare?" (女王はだれ?) 		"Inochi no Karakuri" (イノチノカラクリ, lit. "Mechanism of Life") by Miho Arakawa as Sumireko HanabusaJune 5, 2014
With only Tokaku, Haru, Nio, and Sumireko remaining in Class Black, Sumireko gives Haru an invitation to a tea party, claiming it not to be an advance notice. Meanwhile, Otoya breaks out of prison and sneaks into the dorms to try and target Haru again, but is stopped by Sumireko, who crushes Otoya's scissors in her hand with little effort. Later that night, Haru and Tokaku arrive at the tea party, where they discover robotic puppets of all the other classmates, as well as the restrained Otoya. After explaining how she wants to prove she is a stronger "queen" than Haru, Sumireko delivers her notice and has her puppets attack Tokaku, giving her a selection of guns to fight against. After being prevented from separating herself from the others to target Haru, Sumireko reveals she has powerful robotic limbs and launches a fierce attack against Haru. In the ensuing battle, Otoya breaks free and manages to disable one of Sumireko's arms, only for her to replace it with another weapon, with Otoya once again captured by Nio. As Tokaku becomes cornered, Haru lures Sumireko away from her and uses her robotic limbs to her own advantage, knocking her off the side of a building. After receiving another text from Kaiba asking "Who is the queen?", Tokaku asks Haru what Sumireko meant by her words about her being a "queen bee", but Haru simply says it is not the time to tell her yet. 
11 "How to Distinguish a "Congratulation" from a "Curse""
""Kotohogi" to "Noroi" no Miwake-kata" (『祝（ことほぎ）』と『呪（のろい）』の見分け方) 		"Survival" by Yoshino Nanjō as Nio HashiriJune 12, 2014
With all the other assassins defeated, Nio announces there will be an orientation held at midnight revealing the secret behind Class Black, implying that Haru already knows something. That night, Tokaku and Haru arrive at the orientation, where they are greeted by Yuri, who reveals Class Black was designed as a test to see if Haru could survive against twelve assassins and become a successor for her clan, who control most of the world. Yuri implies that Haru, consciously or not, allegedly has the power to manipulate and control others into protecting her, which Haru refuses to acknowledge. As Haru runs off in denial, Yuri asks Tokaku to think of a wish she wants granted for winning Class Black. That night, as Tokaku feels she had been manipulated the entire time, with no way for Haru to prove otherwise, Kaiba tells her that all of the riddles he had sent her have no "right" answers, tasking Tokaku with finding her own answers. Meanwhile, after Haru asks Yuri to let her leave the clan and live a normal life, Nio takes her to their clan's cemetery, which Myōjō Academy was built upon, giving her some time to reflect on things. After spending time with her family's grave, Haru is approached by Tokaku, who delivers her own advance warning and draws her sword against her. 
12 "Therefore, the World is Full of ____"
"Yueni Sekai wa □□ ni Michiteiru" (ゆえに世界は□□に満ちている) 		"Queen" by 10th Year Class Black (Ayaka Suwa, Hisako Kanemoto, Manami Numakura, Haruka Yoshimura, Fumiko Uchimura, Sachika Misawa, Mami Uchida, Chika Anzai, Yuka Ōtsubo, Azumi Asakura, Miho Arakawa, and Yoshino Nanjō)June 19, 2014

As Tokaku begins her attack, Haru is suddenly dragged off by another Tokaku, who claims the other Tokaku is actually Nio using hypnotic suggestions to take on her appearance. The two Tokakus soon battle against each other with the real Tokaku managing to overcome her fake and stab her. Haru then charges against Tokaku, but ends up becoming stabbed herself, leaving Tokaku devastated, feeling the one wish she has can no longer be granted. As the end of the school year comes, it is revealed that both Haru and Nio had survived their attacks, with Haru becoming the sole graduate of Class Black. With all the other assassins returning to their regular lives, Tokaku sends one last reply to Kaiba before joining Haru in delivering everyone's diplomas.

After the credits, Kaiba receives a text message and smiles, though the content of the message is not revealed. 
13 (OVA) "Who's the Winner? (Surprise Test)"
"Shōsha wa Dare? (Nukiuchi Tesuto)" (勝者はだれ?（抜き打ちテスト）) 		"The Last Party" by 10th Year Class Black (Ayaka Suwa, Hisako Kanemoto, Manami Numakura, Haruka Yoshimura, Fumiko Uchimura, Sachika Misawa, Mami Uchida, Chika Anzai, Yuka Ōtsubo, Azumi Asakura, Miho Arakawa, and Yoshino Nanjō)December 17, 2014
Nio strands everyone in Class Black on a remote island and initiates a scramble game, in which all the other students must try to obtain a charm from Haru using weapons found on the island without losing their own charms. As the game goes on, many students are eliminated and brought to the loser's area for a barbecue, resulting in a five-way struggle between Haru, Tokaku, and the remaining participants. In the end, Haru's charm goes flying and ends up in the hands of Ataru, who is declared the winner of the contest. 

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 "Funimation Reveals More Riddle Story of Devil English Cast". Anime News Network. September 25, 2015. Retrieved September 25, 2015.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Funimation Reveals Riddle Story of Devil's English Dub Cast". Anime News Network. September 24, 2015. Retrieved September 24, 2015.
  3. ↑ 月刊ニュータイプ　2012年9月号 [Monthly Newtype September 2012 issue] (in Japanese). Tohan Corporation. Retrieved July 10, 2013.
  4. ↑ 悪魔のリドル (1) [Riddle Story of Devil (1)] (in Japanese). Kadokawa Shoten. Retrieved July 10, 2013.
  5. ↑ 悪魔のリドル (3) [Riddle Story of Devil (3)] (in Japanese). Kadokawa Shoten. Retrieved December 19, 2014.
  6. ↑ "Seven Seas Adds Riddle Story of Devil, Golden Time, Merman in my Tub, Mushoku Tensei Manga". Anime News Network. January 7, 2015. Retrieved January 7, 2015.
  7. ↑ "Riddle Story of Devil". BookWalker. Retrieved January 22, 2016.
  8. ↑ "Nanoha's Kusakawa Animates Kouga's Assassin Girl Manga Riddle Story of Devil". Anime News Network. July 9, 2013. Retrieved July 10, 2013.
  9. ↑ 悪魔のリドル [Riddle Story of Devil] (in Japanese). Furusaki Yasunari. Retrieved April 7, 2014.
  10. ↑ "Australia's Madman Ent. to Stream Date A Live II, Riddle Story of Devil, Dai - Shogun". Anime News Network. April 6, 2014. Retrieved April 7, 2014.
  11. ↑ "FUNimation's 2014 Spring Season". Funimation. April 1, 2014. Retrieved April 7, 2014.
  12. ↑ "Crunchyroll Streams Riddle Story of Devil Outside N. America & Schedules Mekakucity Actors, Gokuaku Ganbo". Anime News Network. April 10, 2014. Retrieved June 1, 2014.
  13. ↑ "Anime Limited acquire Riddle Story of Devil, Noein and Lord Marksman and Vanadis". UK Anime Network. November 2, 2015. Retrieved November 2, 2015.
  14. ↑ "Story" (in Japanese). Diomedéa. Retrieved June 2, 2014.

External links

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