Shōjo Tsubaki RPG

. The members of the Red Cat Freak Show in Shōjo Tsubaki are all designed with exaggerated, grotesque appearances and personalities that reflect the manga’s nightmare atmosphere. Here’s a more visual and personality-focused description of each:

• Midori — A thin, pale young girl with messy dark hair and large exhausted eyes. She usually wears worn-out kimono or ragged clothing. Midori starts innocent and hopeful, but the circus slowly crushes her emotionally. Her appearance becomes increasingly frail and haunted as the story progresses.

• Koijirō Arashi — The circus master is a greasy, middle-aged man with a sly smile and shabby traditional clothing. He acts cheerful and theatrical in public but privately behaves like a cowardly parasite who profits from misery. He often looks sweaty, nervous, and predatory.

• Masamitsu — A tiny dwarf magician dressed in elegant Western-style suits and capes, often carrying a cane or wearing a top hat. Unlike the filthy circus members, he appears refined and charismatic. His huge expressive eyes and dramatic stage presence make him seem almost magical. At first he feels like Midori’s savior, but his obsessive nature gives him an unsettling edge.

• Akaza — A huge, muscular strongman with one damaged eye and rough facial features. He’s usually shirtless or dressed in circus performer attire that emphasizes his bulk. He eats constantly, drinks heavily, and acts crude and impulsive. Despite his brutality, he sometimes comes across more pathetic than evil.

• Benietsu — A tall snake-charmer woman with heavy makeup, long hair, and revealing costumes decorated with serpents. She carries herself seductively and theatrically, almost like a cabaret performer. Her expressions swing between mocking amusement and bitter exhaustion.

• Kanabun — A thin, eerie, and androgynous performer with exaggerated feminine features and insect-like mannerisms. Kanabun often smirks or sneers, enjoying humiliating others. Their appearance is intentionally uncanny — delicate but unsettling.

• Muchisute — A limbless performer wrapped in stained bandages, giving him the appearance of a living mummy. He moves in disturbing ways and performs tricks using only his remaining limbs and mouth. His design is probably one of the most grotesque in the troupe, emphasizing decay and helplessness twisted into cruelty.

The whole circus is drawn as dirty, claustrophobic, and almost surreal — rotting tents, muddy grounds, warped faces, and exaggerated expressions. Suehiro Maruo intentionally mixes beauty with ugliness so the troupe feels both tragic and horrifying at the same time.