Kikko

Probably one of the hardest to decipher. Given she is a majokko (witch), an older form of the mahou shoujo (magical girl) trope, her roots lie in a more western tradition (such as the American series Bewitched) than the rest of the cast. I’ve decided to include western symbolism in her objects. Most of the flora are foreign plants that were introduced to Japan.

Gerberas (yellow daisies) – truth or happiness of children, with the yellow color specifically representing cheerfulness; if someone gives a gift of covered gerbera daisies it symbolizes they are hiding something (perhaps a reference to her Makai background and double personality)

Chili peppers - fidelity, hex-breaking, love, protectiveness

Bell peppers – health, green bell peppers only became widely used in Japan after start of the Showa Era, generally disliked by Japanese children

Corn (tōmorokoshi) – protection, luck, divination, nutrition and medicine; sweet corn became popular during the Showa Era

Citrus (lemon?) – bitterness and disappointment, or cleansing and purification, wealth, fidelity

Onion - the symbolism and magic of tears/emotional release, hibernating power, potential, layers (a sign of her double personality and how it awakens by the emotion of extreme disappointment)

Some plant on the far right (behind her wand) I can’t identify

Yes, we must talk about her spread legs because I am fully convinced that nothing in this ED is accidental. A flower at the woman’s crotch symbolizes sexuality, female genitalia, puberty, temptation, womanhood, etc. We learn in ep 9 that Kikko has researched physical sex, so likely her attraction to Jiro has some form of lust involved. Also, look at all that food! Food is usually a sign of sin, sexuality, and sensuality when present in art. Compared to Emi, Kikko’s scene is a very “not pure” love but it confines itself to “healthy” foods and is extremely loyal and steadfast. Also, the ED was spoiling us this entire time about her devil queen personality :P

Fuurouta

Abandoned building – loneliness, desertion, being left behind, possibly references how he has no home as an obake

Stag beetle horn – reference to Campe’s insect form and the genocide of the Tartaros bugmen; groundedness, simplicity, protection, gradual progress

Playground – childishness, simplicity, his association with children and their mentality

Spider with a male face – construction of choices, the interconnection of life? Perhaps another Tartaros bugmen reference

Fuurouta is forever tied to the genocide he committed, apparently. It’s also a very lonely scene, as the viewer is reminded of the obake’s eternal existent as a child. His moving pose is “playing” by hopping and skipping, but he is not smiling and looks unusually serious. Fuurouta matures, but it is the growth of a child that has seen too much of life’s harshness and realities, not the growth of an adult.

Emi

Emi is based very much in traditional symbolism, rather than foreign references (like Kikko). I’ve decided to use a more eastern perspective.

Hand mirrors – reference to her powers of transformation; spiritual or self-reflection (reflecting on consequences of actions both positive and negative), concept of the soul, spirits and ghosts are often associated with mirrors, a circular mirror is a sacred object in Shinto shrines

Army of kitsune statues – references her kuda-gitsunes (those yellow ghost foxes) and her power over all youkai as a whole; guardianship, relation to Inari who is seen as a trickster, mysterious, and one of the principle kami of Shinto

White lilies – purity, chastity, innocence

Pomegranates – fertility, abundance, posterity, numerous and virtuous offspring, and a blessed future; an open pomegranate (as pictured above) is a popular wedding present in China; also attributed with a holy meaning in Buddhism as one of the three blessed fruits (There is a story of the demoness Hariti, who devoured children, was cured of her evil habit by the Buddha, who gave her a pomegranate to eat. She is depicted as holding a child, and is invoked for childrearing.)

Mushrooms – likely a reference to Jiro’s mushrooms and radioactivity

Traditional architecture – the statues make this the Toyokawa Inari Shrine, a main branch temple of Inari

Emi’s scene is decidedly about spirituality, with slight allusions to chastity and power. She is laying down with her eyes closed, so she is either a victim (youkai are persecuted by society) or comfortable enough in her power not to be alert (also true given her personality). Unlike Kikko, her few romantic objects are focused on the sexual negative- there’s romance, certainly, but it’s not concerned with lust or physicality. The pomegranate can have many meanings, with its variation of childhood a likely reference to Emi’s status as childhood friend/surrogate mother for Jiro while also carrying romantic connotations. Shinto religion plays a large role in Emi’s motives and goals, and it is naturally prevalent in her scene.

Hyouma

Clocks, watches, hourglass – a reference to his time-altering abilities; futurism, time, an hourglass is generally used to convey the message of “running out of time” or “resetting” (Open clocks gears can also reference he is man-made, as a genetically altered jaguar made to look and act human.)

Seed pods - ?

I would love to know what those plants are in the bottom right, someone tell me if you can identify them. Poor Hyouma gets no love from the ED creators.

Akita

Saturn – themes of death, its astronomy symbol usually addresses the topic of “the opportune moment of harvesting current life” and “culmination of matter”

 Alien ship beaming up cows – a typical sign of aliens, also an indication of “harvesting” earth lifeforms (like superhumans)

Wavy beams – mentality, psychic powers like telekinesis or telepathy

Red, blue, and green blob (upper right) – the Fumers’ colors and their collectivity as a set

The most relevant portion of Akita’s scene is Saturn. The planet can reference changing of an old regime (death) to a new one (rebirth) and recycling, which ties in nicely to Akita’s sacrifice for suppressing Jiro’s powers in S2. The first part of its astronomy symbolism can be a nod to the Fumers’ plan for the Bureau to be “a farm” for superhumans, and the second half could be a reference to the gaseous Fumer bodies needing a physical host.

Raito

Bullets – his common form of attack; a tendency to use violent actions as solutions, war, fighting; symbol of the police (suggested by  @ComunCoutinho)

Machine gears – reference to his machine body, but also how in S1 he is merely “a cog in the governmental machine”