Izumi Lio

Izumi Rio, known as Rio Izumi ( Izumi Rio) when he was once alive as a human. His name changed when he died and became a Shinigami for the Death Pediatrics Ward.

Biography
At first, he's known as the cold and sadistic character, and like Meroko and Takuto, can turn into an animal plushie of a dog. However, he cannot transform as easily as the others because he can't speak as a plushie, nor can he transform easily back into a shinigami. He tends to call others by nicknames instead of their real names (i.e. Me-chan, Mikki, Takkun.)

As the manga develops, his background becomes clearer. In volume two, he states he's there only to bring back Meroko, but with barely any luck, because she devoted herself to Takuto. However, as the story progresses he develops stronger relationships with the other characters, mainly Mitsuki. Unlike the anime, the manga explains Izumi's past life as a human.

Human life
He was a boy named Rio Izumi (6 years of age), whose mother, Kana Izumi, became depressed and abusive after his father died. Because Rio's appearance was similar to his father's, it angered Kana who regularly abused him, and because his bruises were visible he was prevented from going outside. Izumi, desperate to make his mother happy, decided to take a chance when he saw it. Once his bruises became less visible Kana took him out shopping, where Izumi ran and headed for the train tracks, ignoring the barrier as it went down. His initial thought was that if he died, his mother would be happy, therefore fulfilling his own wish. As he turned to look at his mother, he saw a smile across her face, before the train hit.

Shingami life
When he woke up he found himself still unhappy, and that his own wish was not granted, even though he thought he was right. His memories stayed with him, which usually does not happen with shinigami's. During a form sort-out with Takuto and Meroko he finds out his mother is due to die, which he hides and later revisits her in her moment of death. There, he tries to find any hope that his feelings would change, and although he saw her smiling, nothing did, after that he retrieved her soul, his last words to her being "I'm a shinigami... Mother."

Mitsuki later helps him realize within the same chapter that it was not his mother's happiness that he wanted, but for her to call out to him from the train tracks, and call his name again. He considers Mitsuki as a big sister, Arina Tanemura stated in the Fullmoon Dictionary in Volume 7.

Physical appearance
Has bronze-ish blond hair and is known to wear yellow and black clothes (with a red tie) as they were the colors of the train tracks he died on. He also wears a dog hat which he refuses to take off because he finds his ears embarrassing. In the end of the manga he wears Meroko's Milmake outfit which before didn't suit his liking (Arina said wearing his Milmake costume expressed the depth of his love for Me-chan).

Personality and traits
Izumi's personality may seems cold or tender but it's not that it looks. He has feelings and likes to act cool in order to gain more confidence. Also according to the anime he seems to have many secrets because of unknown details the anime does not fill and we start to have literally questions about him. His role as shinigami makes him more distant from others,that's why he hate it but it's necessary and he is obligate to do his job according to his master orders. Izumi always sympathize Mitsuki but his love interest is Meroko.

Meroko
Before the story, Izumi and Meroko were partners, though it was one-sided. However, after he ended their Shinigami partnership, he became partners with Jonathan. During the story of the manga, his relationship with her was undecided, but by the end of the story they became lovers again.

Anime

 * The New Death Spirits, Izumi and Jonathan
 * The Gentleman On the Swing
 * An E-mail from Eichi?
 * The Best New Singer Award
 * A Present from Full Moon
 * I Can't Sing Ever Again
 * Tender Hearts
 * Izumi's Enticing Offer
 * On the Night of the New Moon
 * Desire to Live
 * She Can't Turn Into Full Moon!?
 * Mitsuki's Feelings—Meroko's Feelings
 * I Just Can't Tell Him
 * Day of Destiny
 * Searching For The Full Moon

Trivia

 * Viz Media falsely translates Izumi's last name as "Lio". However there is no "L" in Japanese and to confirm this, Izumi's character profile has the text for his name in English as "Izumi R."
 * In the manga, Izumi is a bit nicer when compared to his portrayal in the anime. In fact, he lives with Mitsuki, Takuto, and Meroko in an apartment in the manga.
 * Izumi thinks that Takuto won't amount to anything because he cares about Mitsuki, a human girl.
 * Izumi and Jonathan knew all along that Takuto and Meroko were using their powers to help Mitsuki. However, they didn't say anything to the chief.