Kobeni Higashiyama | Chainsaw Man Wiki

Kobeni is a Devil Hunter who works in the Public Safety division. At the time the series starts, we see that she is a newer recruit trying to fit in with her new life. Despite not having much time devoted to her, we do have more than enough material to do a deep dive into her character.

To that end, we are going to discuss her skills and abilities, before going into her relationships and affiliations. Lastly, we are going to talk about her role in the plot of Chainsaw Man so far.

Appearance

In a show known for many of its outlandish or striking character designs, Kobeni definitely has one of the more reserved character designs in the entire city. For the most part, she looks like an ordinary woman with dark hair. Her hair is cut short, not going past her neck.

She only ever wears two different outfits during the course of the series. The first of these is what she seems to prefer wearing. This is a professional looking suit. She seems to prefer wearing this for every occasion (Chainsaw Man Manga Chapter 10).

The one other outfit we saw her in was an overly large dress she wore at her welcome party. It was stated that this was something lent to her by her big sister. Overall, she is considered quite cute among the other devil hunters for being so much more normal than everyone else (Chainsaw Man Manga Chapter 28).

Kobeni Higashiyama

Character Info

Reveal Status (Spoilers)

Alive

Species: Human

More Information

Gender: Female

Age: 20

Occupation: Devil Hunter, Family Burger Waitress

Affiliations: Devil Hunters, Family Burger

Relationships: 1 Elder Brother, 8 sisters

Appearances in ANIME/MANGA

Manga Debut: Chapter 10

Chainaw Man - Background

Chainsaw Man is one of the best manga to come out in recent times and it seems the anime and manga community also agrees. The series is a more modern brand of shonen, with a darker and grittier tone than many of its predecessors.

This naturally extends to its characters as well. Chainsaw Man boasts an entire cast of characters that are all nuanced and interesting in their own right let alone when compared to other series. This manga series is well known for characters that almost instantly leave an impression on its readers and keep them invested for future chapters. Today, we are going to look at yet another one of these characters.

We are going to be talking about Kobeni Higashiyama, one of the minor characters we get introduced to over the course of the series. Despite being a minor character who does not get a lot of screen time in the series, we will see that she is as interesting as any of the other characters in the series. In fact, it would not be unfair to see that she will be more interesting than many of the main characters you can find in most other shows.

Personality

Cowardice

It might initially seem that Kobeni would be a one note and uninteresting character but the truth is, if anything, Kobeni has one of the more interesting and layered personalities in the entire series. When really looking into her, we need to look into some of the key traits that really define her character.

Despite being a full fledged Devil Hunter, Kobeni is anything but brave or confident in her abilities. She does not deal well with pressure and deals especially poorly with danger. The first time she even came into contact with the Eternity Devil scared her so badly that she could hardly even lift a finger (Chainsaw Man Manga Chapter 15). Moreover, it appears that she has little awareness or reservation in showing off this side of her to her peers, as evidenced by when she broke down in front of them when they got trapped in the hotel (Chainsaw Man Manga Chapter 15).

Self-Preservation

Self preservation is one of the defining factors when trying to understand Kobeni Higashiyama. When she is threatened, she is willing to go to just about any extent to make sure she makes it out alive. This trait of hers is most obvious when she went so far as to threaten Denji so that a Devil would spare her life (Chainsaw Man Manga Chapter 16).

Remorse

In Chainsaw Man, normal humans can make contracts with Devils. This usually involves the human giving up something precious in exchange for getting a share of the Devil’s

Despite being someone who only seems motivated to look out for themselves, Kobeni still displays a surprising amount of self awareness. She seems to understand that her actions are wrong and is even willing to feel about them whenever she is directly confronted with them. For example, despite how she acted, she still felt grateful when she was saved by Hirozaku (Chainsaw Man Manga Chapter 28).

Competence

Given everything we’ve talked about, you would think that Kobeni is painfully weak and only acts the way she does because she has to. Indeed, that is likely what her character would have been in a lesser series. On the contrary, Kobeni is noted as being very strong and capable to the point where the only person holding her back is herself.

She was, for instance, able to somewhat easily defeat the Katana man when she was finally forced to fight him. Amusingly, she only really panicked and broke down after she has already defeated him and the threat was long since over (Chainsaw Man Manga Chapter 28)

Family Values

Over the course of the series, we learn that Kogemi is not really a Devil Hunter by choice. Rather, this is a job she was more or less forced into by her family. You would think given what we’ve discussed that she would then end up being hateful or resentful but Kobeni continues to surprise. She seems to still value her family members and hardly even seems to resent them at all for the life she is forced to live. Kobeni even goes so far as to scrounge up whatever money she can to send back to her family (Chainsaw Man Manga Chapter 57).

Awkwardness

Despite being a Devil Hunter and a strong one at that, Kobeni is surprisingly vulnerable and shy when it comes to interacting with other people. For example, she gets very nervous any time she gets a hug from Himeno in the series (Chainsaw Man Manga Chapter 13). She also just generally seems to be very bad at taking compliments especially when someone else ends up acknowledging her abilities.

Glutton

Kobeni is somewhat known for her slim figure but even something that simple has a bit of a twist. In reality, Kobeni is a shameless glutton, especially when she gets to eat on the dime of anyone other than herself (Chainsaw Man Manga Chapter 21).

Pacifism

In the few times we do see her go all out in a fight, Kobeni seems almost regretful and remorseful that she did have to inflict suffering on another person. Despite her life being in grave danger, she seemed to visibly hesitate in her fight against the Snake Devil. This hesitation went so far as to let them get away, before she wondered if she should retire from being a Devil Hunter altogether (Chainsaw Man Manga Chapter 28).

Strengths and Skills

Contract Creation

Kobeni is one of the stronger Devil Hunters we meet in the series but she has one fatal flaw. Her own cowardice keeps her from making full use of all her skills and abilities. She is very talented and would doubtless be even more formidable if she ever got a handle on her own fear. In this section, we will be talking about some of her strengths and skills.

In the world of Chainsaw Man, humans are able to make contracts with Devils. This involves the human sacrificing something precious to them in exchange for a fraction of that Devil’s power. Kobeni has made such a contract with a Devil but she is unwilling to disclose who exactly she made a contract with. We also currently have no idea as to what she sacrificed to make her contract (Chainsaw Man Manga Chapter 20).

Weapons

In her few fight scenes, we have seen Kobeni use a few different weapons with a lot of proficiency. In her fight against the Snake Devil, we see her deftly wield a large butcher knife, which she even managed to sever an arm with.

We also then see her using a handgun, seemingly very confident in her ability to use it (Chainsaw Man Manga Chapter 28).

At the very end, we see her waving around a Chainsaw. We do not yet know if there are any other weapons she can use.

Speed And Agility

Kobeni is known for being very fast to the point that she is very hard to hit. In the fight against the Snake Devil, she was able to deftly dodge all of his attacks before launching her own.

She was so good at this that they even remarked that she was more like a monkey than a human (Chainsaw Man Manga Chapter 28).

Athleticism

Not only is Kobeni fast enough to dodge all the attacks that come her way, she is also athletic enough to use the openings that she can get.

We see this when she is able to leap over someone’s head all the while being able to sever their arm.

Facts

Kobeni is one of the most popular characters in Chainsaw Man. She was in the top 10 during the first favorite character poll conducted for the manga. She maintained that placement in the second poll as well.
The reason why Kobeni still has to work so hard is because she has nine siblings in total.
Of her nine siblings, eight of them are her sisters.

Past/History

Kobeni has one of the more tragic pasts of all the characters we get to know in Chainsaw Man. She comes from a very poor family, to the point where she never got many nice things growing up. Her family was poor to the point where she has only ever had ice cream three times in her entire life despite loving its taste (Chainsaw Man Manga Chapter 56).

Growing up, Kobeni appears to have wanted to live a completely normal life with nothing to do with Devils or Devil Hunters. She wanted to go to college and find a normal job. Her family could not afford any of this and soon she was forced into a choice. Kobeni had to earn enough money to get her brother through college and she could either do this being a prostitute or as a Devil Hunter.

Forced into this very hard decision, she eventually did end up becoming a Devil Hunter against her wishes. She still frequently sends back many of her earnings to her family (Chainsaw Man Manga Chapter 15).

Affiliations

Devil Hunters

Kobeni is a member of the Public Safety Devil Hunters. This is a post that she was more or less forced into but she still tries to do her best. The only complaint many of her friends have is that she could be a lot stronger if only she was less afraid of putting her life in danger (Chainsaw Man Manga Chapter 14). She eventually ends up leaving this post midway through the series.

Family Burger

After leaving her post as a Devil Hunter, Kobeni is eventually seen being a staff member at a restaurant called Family Burger. She likely had little choice but to take this job seeing as how she had to send back money to her family. We immediately see that this restaurant is not what it seems, with Kobeni being bullied by the other members there, including the manager (Chainsaw Man Chapter 85).

Relationships

Parents

Kobeni seems to have a rather complicated relationship with her parents. They were the ones who stole her dream of going off to college in favor of making her work as a Devil Hunter. Despite all of that, it seems that Kobeni still cares deeply for them. She is at least willing to be polite and cordial with them as well as doing favors for them whenever they might need it (Chainsaw Man Manga Chapter 57).

Brother

If her relationship with her parents is complicated, then her relationship with her brother is even more so. It was because of her brother that Kobeni was forced into the life she was, as she had to try and raise some money to get him through college. If anything, even her life after being a Devil Hunter seems guided because of him, as she still has to work at Family Burger. Despite this, she still seems willing to help him out with expenses even when she realistically does not need to anymore (Chainsaw Man Manga Chapter 15).

Himeno

Kobeni seems somewhat shy and closed off from most of the other members at her Public Safety squad. The only exception to this appears to be Himeno, who she seems to care for a great deal. For one thing, Himeno is the only one she allows to hug her, despite that not really being something she enjoys very much.

More importantly, after her fight with the Snake Devil, Kobeni was completely shaken and disgusted with herself. She contemplated retiring from being a Devil Hunter no matter what the consequences of that might be. In her vulnerable moment, Kobeni had decided that she would tell Himeno of her decision before everyone else, showing a great deal of care and affection towards her (Chainsaw Man Manga Chapter 28).

Plot

Bat Devil Arc

This was the arc where we first got introduced to Kobeni. She doesn’t really have much of a part to play here, mainly just being a supporting character for the other Devil Hunters.

Eternity Devil Arc

This is the arc where we get our first insights into Kobeni’s character. When the gang is trapped inside the hotel, Kobeni is the first to freak out thinking they were all about to die. Her paranoia runs wild, surprising many of the other Devil Hunters. She is completely hysterical, even going so far as to try and drink water out of a toilet at one point.

Here, the Eternity Devil offers to let all of the hunters go in exchange for them killing Denji. None of the other members seem interested and Kobeni is the only one that makes a move towards him at all.

In the climactic fight against the Eternity Devil, Kobeni does not contribute at all. She is shocked and paralyzed with fear and watches from the sidelines as her friends fight in her place (Chainsaw Man Manga Chapter 18).

Katana Man Arc

This is the first arc where we see Kobeni actually fight someone. Although she more or less gets forced into it, we find out that she is much stronger than she looks when is fighting for her life. During this fight, she was easily able to take care of both the Snake Devil and the Katana Man, something even Denji could not do (Chainsaw Man Manga Chapter 28).

International Assassins Arc

In this arc, we learn a little bit more about Kobeni’s past. We hear her recount the first time she ever tried ice cream and we see her bond with someone besides Himeno for a change.

This is one of the most brutal arcs in Chainsaw Man where many of the characters are suddenly kidnapped and taken to Hell. There, they all fight a seemingly hopeless and lost battle against the Darkness Devil during which Kobeni even ends up losing her arms.

The horror of this part of the story is too much for her and she resigns soon after (Chainsaw Man Manga Chapter 71).

Control Devil Arc

In this arc, we find out that after resigning from being a Devil Hunter Kobeni has become one of the staff at family burger. We also learn that this restaurant is a lot different than what it looks at first glance and Denji has to save Kobeni from being killed (Chainsaw Man Manga Chapter 85).

Later in this arc, Kobeni tries yet another ice cream but all the horror of everything she has gone through has long since caught up to her. Despite that being something she loved, she comments that she can hardly even taste the same thing anymore. This cements the end of her character arc in Chainsaw Man.

Voice Actor

Japanese