The Speed Grapher anime series features an extensive cast of characters created by Yuusuke Kozaki and Masashi Ishihama. The series takes place in a fictional universe where the rich and powerful can have their deepest desires filled by a fetish club called the Roppongi Club. The series follows the discovery of the girl at the center of the club and one man's quest to free her.
Speed Grapher's main character is Tatsumi Saiga, a veteran war journalist who now survives on photographing for tabloids. He discovers the Roppongi Club while stalking for the newspaper and meets Kagura Tennōzu. He takes her from the club and tries to escape the influence of Chōji Suitengu with the help of others. Suitengu, wishing to have Kagura back in his control, sends club members, all Euphorics who were granted special powers based on their desires, to stop them.
Tatsumi Saiga is the male protagonist. A veteran war journalist, he somehow took a liking to it. His love for photography develops into sexual fetish; he gets an erection whenever he takes exciting photographs. However, after returning to Japan, his passion seems to have died.
While investigating a secret club where rich and influential people meet to fulfill their most perverted desires, he receives a kiss from Kagura and develops the ability to explode whoever and whatever he photographs - Death by Photograph. The effect of this ability depends on what type of camera and lens he is using (e.g., a telescopic lens has a more powerful effect than a regular lens). He can also psychically load film into his camera. He was infected by the virus on the same island that Suitengu was. Saiga uses a Nikon camera and what looks to be Nikor lenses (despite the title of the series, Saiga was never depicted with a Speed Graphic). When using his powers his camera gains a black aura, while his right eye (it can be either, but he aims with his right) turns blood shot and the iris bright green while large veins protrude around it. Although he is thrown into a fight he does not fully understand, Saiga shows a natural prowess for fighting. He is able to keep a cool head, and even demonstrates some level of training in close range combat. No doubt, skills he picked up after years of being a war photographer.
Over the course of the series Saiga gets more and more protective of Kagura. First acting as a sort of teacher, he shows her the world that she never saw. When anyone questions whether he is in love with her, he casually brushes it off saying "it's not like that", or just ignoring the question altogether. In the final episode when Kagura says the world would be better if she and Suitengu were dead, Saiga admits to her that he loves her and wants her to live more than anything. Five years after Suitengu's coup d'etat, a blind Saiga is taking pictures of the sunset, when a twenty-year-old Kagura walks through the laundry drying in the sun. He then says "Welcome back", and the two embrace and the screen moves up toward the sunset.