But the wires were weak and could not support her additional weight with the gas bloating her. This, along with the horrible stench, made her hang herself from the wires of a ceiling lamp. Because of this, she began to think she was disgusting, that Tadashi wouldn't love her if she wasn't beautiful, and she would never be healed. The germ also forces the gas with the 'death stench' out of her body. However, she is later infected, causing her body to swell up and be covered in boils. Due to her overly sensitive nose, she seems to be able to sense when the creatures are coming. She and Tadashi tried to escape and went to Koyanagi's lab. Near the beginning of the series Kaori started noticing the odd smell. She has an extremely sensitive nose and becomes very jealous when Tadashi is near other women. He's the only survivor of the main characters and appears to be immune. At the end he joins a group of university students, who happen to be immune from the death stench, to create a vaccine to defeat the disease. He is trying to help with the fight against the creatures. He tries to save Kaori but in the end he fails to do so. He noticed something was funny when Kaori said he had bad breath, although he brushes his teeth twice a day. He has a girlfriend named Kaori and an uncle named Koyanagi. In the beginning it shows that he loves scuba. Later it is found that the death stench gas might have a will of its own, and that the machines are not man-made: the disease has apparently mutated to be able to construct the walkers from the metal hulls of sunken battleships.

Underwater the machines have attached themselves to the fish and moved from the island to the mainland, attacking the humans. Enemy planes sunk the ship carrying the prototypes for the walking machines, which ran entirely on the gas. Infection by the germ produced large amounts of foul-smelling gas from body tissue, and since infection quickly killed the test animals, walking machines were built to carry them further, allowing them to reach and sicken enemy troops. Later, it is found that the Japanese Army was researching germs that produce the death stench during World War II in a desperate effort to turn the tide of the war. Germs infecting the rotting body produce a gas - responsible for the terrible smell that surrounds the creatures - that makes the metal construct move. The creatures are eventually revealed to consist of a small metallic, legged structure with the carcass of a dead animal (and later, human) strapped on top. At first they appear merely as smaller fish, but later also as larger sea creatures such as sharks and even a whale. The plot of Gyo centers around the 'death stench', a revolting smell first encountered in connection with creatures appearing to be bizarre fish with scuttling, sharp metal legs.

Gyo volume 1