Parfum Extrait 0

Infobox animanga/Header
name = Parfum Extrait 0


caption =
ja_name = 0の奏香師
ja_name_trans = Zero no Soukoushi
genre = Drama, Psychological horrorInfobox animanga/Manga
title =
author = Kaori Yuki
publisher = flagicon|Japan Hakusensha
publisher_other = flagicon|Singapore Chuang Yi
demographic = Shōjo
volumes = 1

nihongo|"Parfum Extrait 0"|0の奏香師|Zero no Soukoushi, is a oneshot manga by Kaori Yuki. The story, set in Japan, follows the story of a genius Japanese perfumer named Kanade Saikawa and his French cousin, Anais, as they solve a total of 3 mysterious and baffling cases (one per chapter, also called 'Scents') with Kanade's heightened sense of smell and powerful logic.

Characters

Main Characters

*Kanade Saikawa: : The main protagonist of the story, he is a genius perfumer with a heightened sense of smell. With that ability and from the honing he receives from his job, he can differentiate between any smell from the state of 'zero' (no smell or odour) onwards. Because of this, he hates going out (especially in crowded places), as he gets hit by thousands of smells around that sometimes overwhelm him, and is even shown resorting to an old-fashioned gas mask at one point. However, Anais ripped it off soon after. He also mentioned that he drinks only mineral water as to not 'emit distracting body odours'. :One example to show exactly how sharp his sense of smell is was when he was asked to prove it wasn't fake - he could tell the man questioning him what he ate for breakfast, what deodorant the girl he was hanging out with before was wearing, which cigarettes he smoked and even how much he smoked. It's proven again when he manages to distinguish a faint scent of roses and rescue a captured Anais in a building with countless rooms.:His main tool of the trade is his 'Fragrance Organ', a suitcase filled with many bottles of natural scents from which he creates his perfumes. Instead of being 'mechanically perfect', his perfumes are always created 'from the heart' and his waiting list to create personal, unique perfumes is always several months long. His skill at making perfumes is as such that he can even bring back lost memories (as shown in Scent 3) with a sniff of one of his creations, with the aid of the Proustian memory. He is good at martial arts - he mastered (or at least almost perfected) his family (the Saikawa) style, and was set to inherit his grandmother's Aikido dojo. He turned it down to become a perfumer, and as a result, is banned from using that style for the rest of his life.

* Anais Saikawa: : Currently attending high school (and is also younger that Kanade), Anais is the daughter of Kanade's father's younger sister's husband (who is French) from a previous marriage, meaning that she and Kanade are actually unrelated by blood. Being beautiful (blonde hair and blue eyes) and described as "having legs like a Barbie's", she's always being harassed by either a pack of admirers or photographers asking her to be their model.

:Although she was born with a weak constitution and very sensitive skin, she has mastered (or has at least almost perfected) the Saikawa style, which is said can kill if one goes all-out on someone. She was born in France and brought up in Japan, so she has no problems language-wise. She also has something of a temper, and is the type to 'act before she thinks'. In her childhood, with Kanade, she once complained to him about how perfume brought out her allergies. He gave her a small necklace with a piece of cotton she can dab perfume on instead of on her skin, and she still has it to this day. She then made him promise that he would make her a lily scent for her wedding day, although it seems as though she has forgotten it by the time the manga starts. :It is not clear whether she and Kanade end up as a couple at the end, but it is quite strongly hinted throughout the manga, and especially in the author's notes. Kaori Yuki also mentioned that Anais hates gothic style clothing in her notes.

Other Characters/Synopsis of chapters

cent 1

*Tsubomi Shikishima::The daughter of a very rich and prestigious family, and had gone missing just before the start of the manga. Kanade had been commissioned to make a unique scent for her birthday. It was named after her: "Rose Bud", and she applies the scent on her wrist. That scent was also how Kanade eventually tracked her down.

*Madam Shikishima: :Tsubomi's controlling mother. She is accidentally killed when she tries to separate her daughter from her lover in an abandoned building.

*Taiki: :A man that Tsubomi's mother claimed was from the Mafia (or more likely the yakuza) and stalking Tsubomi. However, it turns out that he and Tsubomi are actually a couple, and Tsubomi's mother's attempts to separate them result in her own death and the couple's desperate attempt to cover it all up.

Kanade and Anais come across them after Kanade notices the scent of his commissioned fragrance (as well as a 'scent of death') in a bouquet or roses Taiki is holding. He eventually follows him to an abandoned building, and tries to find out more by pretending to sell perfumes to him.He soon detects Tsubomi's scent on Taiki but it's on the nape of his neck, when Tsubomi wrapped her arms round while kissing him. After finding Madam Shikishima's body, it is soon revealed that the couple had been trying to cover up the smell of her corpse by surrounding in roses. But because of the continuous strong odour of roses, they soon become 'numb' to the smell and don't notice how the smell of roses had become so strong it was attracting passers-by to the building.

cent 2

; Kagari Saikawa: Kanade's uncle (his mother's brother) and was Kanade's original influence to become a perfumer. Although never seen in person, he's constantly mentioned throughout the manga.

; Soushi Yamanami: A photographer obsessed with trying to get Anais to model for him.

; Asura Araragi: (Real name Kimie Matsuya) The editor of a small gothic lolita magazine, and dresses flamboyantly in black dresses all year round.

; Ayatsugu Kureishi: He and Kanade were the only Japanese students in the prestigious National Fragrance School in Versailles. They were friendly competitors until one particular competition which ruined Kureishi but catapulted Kanade to fame. Kureishi was also dating a girl named Lilian.

; Lilian: Kureishi's previous girlfirend from France. Apparently died with him in a car accident.

cent 3

; Lila Nishizaki: A friend and classmate of Anais who has a hate/fear of perfumes. Kanade described her as 'petite and adorable' beside Anais.

; Lila's father: By the start of the chapter, he had been in a coma for nine years.

; Aki: Lila's aunt. Drenches herself from head to toe in perfume, and almost knocked Kanade out when she entered the room because the smell was so strong.

References

All information is taken from the Parfum Extrait 0 manga, Chuang Yi publication, including author's notes and original publishers from Japan.