Itogami Island (
Also, when the HGTO invasion occurred, the Japanese government relinquished its territorial rights to Itogami Island, leaving it unable to object to the Fourth Primogenitor taking the island over instead. On the other hand, if anything, countries besides Japan viewed the Fourth Primogenitor showing himself on the international political stage as something to be welcomed. The Japanese government had been able not only to keep the Fourth Primogenitor concealed from the public up to that point and under blatant observation but had engaged in direct negotiations with him from time to time. Better this than the Japanese government being the only one able to use the Fourth Primogenitor, thought other countries—and who could blame them? Even so, that did not mean the relationship between Itogami Island and Japan had completely dissolved.[2]
At present, while Itogami Island was a sovereign nation under international law, her people were generally free to travel to and from Japan. All judicial and financial matters remained under the jurisdiction of the Japanese government, and the law enforcement activity on the island was still conducted by Japanese police officers and federal Attack Mages. It absolutely was not rare for a nation of Itogami Island’s small size to entrust a portion of its national functions to a neighboring nation like this. Even where transport of foodstuffs and economic activities were concerned, much was entrusted to Japan, with the island treated as a Demon Sanctuary just as before. In one sense, the relationship between Itogami Island and Japan was closer than ever. That said, this did not mean everything before independence remained the same. In particular, the burden of administering Itogami Island had increased precipitously. The establishment of nationhood had come with a vast outpouring of political formalities and administrative work, explaining things to the confused island residents, maintaining public order, and inspecting and administering the Relic of the Cleansing that Dimitrie Vattler had left behind… These issues were being addressed by Kazuma Yaze, senior manager of the Gigafloat Management Corporation, and Sensai Aiba, former mayor of Itogami City…and the Priestess of Cain, also known to be a mysterious programming genius. High-functionality applications to support government staff…city maintenance systems to deal with the vast, sudden increase in artificial isle urban areas due to the appearance of the Legacy…strategic AI functions for predicting diplomatic difficulties that would arise and providing guidance for their resolution… She’d whipped up all these things in less than a week. Though the Gigafloat Management Corporation’s incredible information accumulation capabilities and former Mayor Aiba’s political skills had done much, substantial credit for saving the new city-state from crisis so soon after the nation’s founding surely went to her—[2]
Information
Initially Itogami Island was an artificial island floating in the middle of the Pacific, some three hundred and thirty kilometers south of Tokyo. It was a completely manmade city, built from a linked series of giant floating constructs known as Gigafloats. Its total area was approximately a hundred and eighty square kilometers. Total population was about five hundred and sixty thousand. Administratively, it was known as Itogami City, and was part of the greater Tokyo metropolis, but in reality it was a special administrative district with an independent political structure. Thanks to the influence of a warm current, the climate was gentle, with temperatures averaging above twenty degrees Celsius even in the middle of winter. It was located in the tropics: an island of everlasting summer. However, the island’s main industry was not tourism. In the first place, there were rigorous inspections of all those entering and exiting the island. No mere tourist would ever visit. Itogami City was an academic city. Representatives from major Japanese industries, such as pharmaceuticals, precision machinery, high-tech materials manufacturing, and so forth, along with research organizations from famous universities, all tripped over each other on this island. That was because of one field of research permitted only on an artificial island, far from the Japanese mainland. “Demon Sanctuary.” That was the other name that Itogami City had been given. Beastmen, spirits, half demons, artificial life-forms, and vampires —on this island, these demonic races, their numbers depleted to the verge of extinction by the effects of environmental devastation and battling the human race, were officially recognized and protected. And their physical makeup and special powers were analyzed and used in science and development in several fields of industry. Itogami City was an artificial city built precisely for this purpose. The majority of the island’s residents were either those very demons, researchers, or those with special powers recognized by the city. The demons that were the object of research were of course included as well. The demonic races cooperating with the management of the special district were in turn accorded residential rights, the same as human beings, and were permitted to study, work, and live their lives. Itogami City was a model city of communal existence between demonic races and mankind— Or, perhaps, a giant, caged laboratory.[3]
The Demon Sanctuary of Itogami Island was a scholarly city. Research was performed on demonic bodies and abilities on a daily basis, leading to the development of new technologies and products. And that research included top-level medical technology: experimental, unapproved medical technology.[4]
It was a solitary island floating on top of the ocean with open sea all around it. It was constructed of floating structures of extremely large size; a Gigafloat… Built with the objective of controlling “dragon lines,” it was now a city for the research of demonic life and abilities thereof. It was the Demon Sanctuary known as Itogami Island.[5]
Itogami Island’s total population was less than six hundred thousand individuals, but a surprising number of airplanes landed and departed from it, with over two hundred direct flights weekly to forty cities around the globe. This was because Itogami Island was one of the world’s few Demon Sanctuaries. Research on demons’ cellular makeup, physiques, organs, and so forth, and the new raw materials and pharmaceuticals derived from such lab results, could be obtained nowhere but a Demon Sanctuary. A great many people from around the world visited in search of these before departing once more.[6]
Appearance
Itogami Island
Itogami Island is a small artificially constructed island; made out of carbon fiber, resin, metal and magic.[7] It is built with a center that is its foundation linked with a surrounding series of four giant floating constructs known as Gigafloats interwoven by an intersection of ley lines of massive spiritual energy known as Dragon Veins. Its total area is initially around 180km², holding a total population of around 560,000; however, later on, Cain's Ark is reactivated, surrounding it and becoming part of it thus turning it into a total area of around 27,000km², rivaling a small country. They also have a Space-to-ground Laser Cannon.
The scenery of Itogami Island. The scent of the sea breeze, the sounds of the seagulls, the white waves, the dazzling rays of the sun—it was a city where demonkind and humanity lived side by side.[8]
The sunrays were too strong, and the artificially constructed skyline lacked elegance. The sea breeze made a person's hair stick, and one had to admit, it rained too much.[9]
New Itogami Island
Against a pure blue ocean and sky in the tropics spread forth a steel city resembling a ruin. It was an inorganic cityscape, like a sooty metropolis from just after the Industrial Revolution or perhaps a factory that was quiet in the dead of night. This was the horde of gigafloats surrounding Itogami Island—the ruin nicknamed New Itogami Island. Originally constructed in the land of Nod by Cain the Sinful God, these fragments of a fortress city had come from another world. Transported here thanks to the sealing dragon “Glenda,” research on the island had continued apace as part of the Demon Sanctuary. Since the ruin was so vast, however, not even 5 percent of the total structure had been surveyed yet. Apparently, most of the island was still abandoned and out of reach. Despite that, temporary housing had been placed on part of the island, and corporate labs and factory sites had sprung up there as well. Unsurprisingly, developers placed an especially high priority on completing harbor facilities, roads, and other infrastructure.[10]
New Itogami Island and Itogami Island were separated by seven kilometers at the narrowest.[10]
Geography
Itogami Island—a Demon Sanctuary both a mass of cutting-edge construction technologies and a sorcerous construct. Formed of four gigafloats, each was designed to move independently to absorb the effects of typhoons and tsunamis and to keep damage from flooding to a bare minimum. One of each was located east, west, north, and south—each with a sorcerous purpose. The east was Seiryuu, the west was Byakko, the south was Suzaku, the north was Genbu—in other words, a feng shui Four Heavenly Kings arrangement. Itogami Island itself was placed according to one giant feng shui ritual.[1]
Itogami Island was fundamentally made up of four Gigafloats— East, West, South, North—but the island also had numerous smaller extension units all around it. They fulfilled various functions, such as floating crude oil depositories, dry docks for repairing ships, or even serve as a giant Dumpster for the storing of nonflammable waste. The buildings on Itogami Island’s Sub-float No. 13 constituted one such landfill facility.[4]
Itogami Island has five main districts: representing four Divine Beasts; the North Island as the Black Turquoise, South Island as the Vermilion Bird, West Island as the White Tiger and East Island as the Azure Dragon, while representing their ruler, the Center Island as the Yellow Dragon, linked together to control the Dragon Veins.
- North Island: Island North was a research and development district with corporate and university facilities built side by side. This area contained dense clusters of multiple unadorned buildings erected on artificial soil. In one sense, the futuristic district felt the best suited as part of an artificial isle out of everywhere in Itogami Island.[11] Island North was a laboratory district, a collection of academic and corporate facilities, where research and development on demonic biology was conducted, making the section the manifestation of the Demon Sanctuary’s stated purpose. It was a multi-stratum city, with a vast underground space under the rows of numerous buildings. The landscape’s bare construction materials gave it an inorganic feeling, and it was the area most reflective of the massive scale construct that was the artificial isle beneath it. It was a district with no small number of troves of dangerous materials and pharmaceuticals[12]
- South Island:: Island South was an educational district, with numerous learning facilities like schools and libraries. It was part of a quiet residential neighborhood.[13]
- West Island: One of the four Gigafloats that composed Itogami Island, Island West, was a city that never slept. In this district, where many restaurants and business establishments were gathered, many stores continued operating until daybreak. Much of demonkind loved the night. In addition to that, many demonic residents flocked to this city because of the wealth of services geared toward them. In one sense, this dazzling neon nighttime display was emblematic of Itogami City and the peaceful coexistence of humans and demons within.[3]
- East Island: Or the eastern Gigafloat houses the Industrial District where warehouses are.[14]
- Center Island: Or the nucleus houses the Keystone Gate.
- Anchor Block: In Itogami Island’s lowest section, the Anchor Block—and within it, the keystone at the center of the main pillar from which Keystone Gate derived its name.[15]
- Sub-floats: Or its numerous smaller extensions house its various supplementary facilities, such are it's dry docks for ship repair, floating crude oil depositories, and a giant dumpster for the storage of its nonflammable waste.[16]
Expansion
Itogami Island is later on determined by the Holy Ground Treaty Organization to be a world threatening large-scale magical device thus sent an armada to attack it. In defense, its Cain's Ark, a group of more than 600 artificial isles, is reactivated by Glenda and resurfaces, surrounding Itogami Island and becoming its permanent expansion. It is consequently being hastily redeveloped with its isles being grouped into and named as Clusters.[17]
Climate
Itogami Island is located on the Pacific Ocean, a tropical area with the influence of warm currents, therefore it has a warm climate year-round, with temperatures averaging above 20°C even in winter, thus it became known as the Island of Everlasting Summer while it is prone to heavy rainfall and is always struck with several typhoons year-round.[18]
Notable Locations
Keystone Gate
Murakumo Coffee Shop
The Murakumo Coffee Shop was one of the eight café franchises operating in Itogami City. It offered high-end coffee for middling prices and boasted wide popularity; men and women alike rated it highly for its many good looking employees.[19]
Itogami Laboratory
MAR’s Itogami Laboratory was constructed in the district at the center of Island North, not so far removed from the site of the demon beast uproar. Including the affiliate hospital to which it was connected, it harbored nearly a thousand researchers, making it one of the largest research organizations within the city. To the sorcerous corporate conglomerate MAR, the results of its Demon Sanctuary research constituted critical information one might even call its corporate lifeline. Analysis of demonic abilities and biology and employing this to develop industrial and medical products—it was said that the horde of products originating from Itogami Island constituted over sixty percent of the massive corporation that MAR had become. Naturally, entry points into the laboratory’s interior came furnished with a security presence rivaling that of a military base. Security was especially strict for the highly profitable medical department. In addition to armed security pods that kept watch twenty-four/seven, it came with demonic security personnel patrols and even magical fortifications, pretty much the finest anti-intrusion measures anyone could imagine.[20]
Itogami Island Sorcery Lab Number Six
It is a sorcerous research facility assigned the highest level of secrecy because it deals with forbidden classes of magic. It is also one of the few Gigafloat Management Corporation–related facilities that has survived beyond the start of the electoral war. The lab was on the lowest underground strata of Island North and close to a prison. Because it was in an isolated environment, it was spared from the fighting. The Island Guard unit protecting it seemed to have survived unscathed as well. This building’s water and electricity are supplied through an independent system separate from that of Itogami Island proper. It has sufficient stores of food as well.[21]
Menya Itogami
The establishment called Menya Itogami was located in Island West on the first floor of a multi-tenant building near the train station. There were nine seats at the counter and four chairs to a table. The storefront gave off the image of perfectly average ramen establishment. The shop was relatively full, with a line going out the door.[22]
Lion King Agency outpost
The Lion King Agency outpost on Itogami Island was that it was smack-dab in the middle of the love hotel district.[21]
Itogami City General Sorcerous Hospital
Itogami City General Sorcerous Hospital was a medical agency specializing in demons directly overseen by the Gigafloat Management Corporation. The medical wing was near the center of Itogami Island, giving it a great across-the-canal view of the Keystone Gate lobby.[23]
History
Itogami Island, a giant, artificial city, was being supported by a “miracle” brought about by a holy relic. It was a design to build a new city, an artificial floating island atop the ley lines—dragon lines in the Orient—that ran on top of the ocean. At the time, this was an epochal concept. As spiritual energy flowing along dragon lines is linked to the liveliness of the residents, everyone thought this would lead the city to prosperity. However, the construction went poorly, for the naked power of the dragon lines that flowed over the ocean far exceeded people’s expectations. So that was the reason Itogami Island had been constructed above water far to the south of the mainland: the existence of dragon lines—giant spiritual channels that flowed across the surface of the earth. Places built on top of dragon lines were full of spiritual energy. That alone made possible spiritual techniques and magical experiments more powerful than the norm. These were ideal conditions for the research on demons conducted in the Demon Sanctuary. So the Gigafloat project was indispensable for constructing a city on top of dragon lines. The city’s designer, Senra Itogami, knew this very well. He elected to separate the Gigafloats into four—representing the four Celestial Animals of feng shui governing east, west, north, and south, using them to attempt to control the linked dragon lines in a more harmonious manner. However, even so, a single, insurmountable problem remained. The strength of the keystone, The designer, Senra Itogami, required a keystone in the center of the island to represent the Yellow Dragon—he who governs the four Celestial Animals. However, the technology of that time could not construct materials strong enough to withstand that. Consequently, he stained his hands with an abominable heresy. The designer of Itogami Island had resolved a question of engineering through reliance on necromancy. Human sacrifice. He realized he could he could employ the heresy of sacrificing living humans to increase the strength of his structures. However, dragon lines were flows of natural energy; their untamed power placed an enormous burden on the Gigafloats’ connecting section. The keystone needed to withstand that burden; half-baked necromancy wasn’t going to cut it. He needed power on par with a miracle from God himself. Hence, What he selected as the sacrifice to support his city was the relic of a patron saint, usurped from the Church.[24]
Plot
The Eternal Banquet
Ever since the war of the primogenitors, Itogami Island is an autonomous territory on paper. Without a formal request from the Gigafloat Management Corporation, even the Lion King Agency cannot dispatch Attack Mages on its own authority.[21]
Dawn Triumphant
Itogami Island’s political situation since the War of the Primogenitors remained unstable and vague. Though it had the right to govern its own affairs and engage in foreign relations, national defense and law enforcement remained in the hands of the government of Japan. That was why Natsuki, a Japanese Federal Attack Mage, and the Lion King Agency were able to operate as they had previously. So if MAR demanded the ceding of its territorial rights for Itogami Island, the government of Japan couldn’t refuse. MAR had the Beast Vassal Warheads after all.[23]
Politics and Administration
Itogami Island's politics takes in the structure of an Oligarchy at present to a Hereditary Monarchy in the future.
Abilities
Itogami Island is internationally guarded by Japan's police and Federal Attack Mages still while it is locally guarded by its Island Guards who are armed with heavy weaponry, helicopters and armoured personnel carriers, and various other kinds of advanced weaponry as well as operate numerous magic sensors to track the use of high levels of magic energy within the Island to maintain its law and order.
Anti-Crime Surveillance Cameras: The island’s anti-crime surveillance cameras are under the Island Guard’s jurisdiction.[1]
Gallery
Trivia
- Itogami Island's residents are mostly researchers and their families and as well as city-approved persons with special powers.
- The rest of the world already viewed Itogami Island as a threat because it was the Altar of The Cleansing. On top of that, now everyone knew it was the key to the gate to Nod. Itogami Island’s threat level had vaulted even higher. But at the same time, its value as a Demon Sanctuary had plunged.[25]
- For Itogami Island, floating smack dab in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, slow or missed shipments were a common occurence. It wasn’t rare for prolonged rough weather to halt imports for close to a week at a time.[26]
- In the Demon Sanctuary of Itogami City, the activities of Attack Mages were as strictly regulated as those of demons.[3]
- People whose appearance differed from their chronological age were hardly rare on Itogami Island—that was Asagi Aiba's impression, at least.[27]
- For people living on Itogami Island, whether it was clothing, pets, or sports gear, if you wanted anything even a little exotic, you had to get it online.[28]
- It was acknowledged by many that the darkness enveloping Itogami Island is the same as the darkness that envelops humankind.[29]
- Itogami Island’s proper ruler is the Fourth Primogenitor. The Gigafloat Management Corporation merely represents him.[21]
- The residents of Itogami Island, a Demon Sanctuary, made them accustomed to the existence of demons. In fact, even when the people on the island saw demons with their demon IDs in the city, it gathered little attention. Middle school girls wearing short skirts were subject to far more intense gazes. The crime rate among registered demons was well below average; if demons committed a crime, the well-armed Island Guard came out in force to restore order. The ordinary residents of the island had no reason to fear demons.[30]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Volume 13, Chapter 2
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Volume 16, Chapter 3
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Volume 1, Chapter 1
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Volume 2, Chapter 3
- ↑ Volume 2, Intro
- ↑ Volume 18, Chapter 2
- ↑ Strike the Blood Season 1 Episode 1
- ↑ Volume 22, Chapter 3
- ↑ Volume 22, Chapter 4
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 Volume 20, Chapter 2
- ↑ Volume 13, Chapter 4
- ↑ Volume 17, Chapter 2
- ↑ Volume 17, Chapter 4
- ↑ Light Novel Volume 1
- ↑ Volume 1, Chapter 4
- ↑ Light Novel Volume 2
- ↑ Light Novel Volume 17
- ↑ Light Novel Volume 1
- ↑ Volume 21, Chapter 3
- ↑ Volume 17, Chapter 3
- ↑ 21.0 21.1 21.2 21.3 Volume 19, Chapter 3
- ↑ Volume 14, Chapter 2
- ↑ 23.0 23.1 Volume 22, Chapter 2
- ↑ Volume 11, Chapter 4
- ↑ Volume 21, Chapter 4
- ↑ Volume 13, Chapter 1
- ↑ Volume 20, Chapter 1
- ↑ Volume 11, Chapter 1
- ↑ Volume 14, Chapter 4
- ↑ Volume 2, Chapter 2