Diksha Sundriyal
In Netflix’s ‘Dead Boy Detectives,’ every episode brings a new case for Edwin and Charles, the teenage boys who refused to move on to the other side after their deaths and decided to open a detective agency to solve supernatural mysteries instead. The second episode focuses on a case that adds a new member to their team, and the solving of the case comes with a significant change in their appearance. The person in question is Niko Sasaki, a young girl who came to America following her father’s death but fell victim to two supernatural beings who threatened to claim her life. She would have died had Edwin, Charles, and Crystal not helped her. But while she gets to keep her life, the natural black color of her hair is lost. SPOILERS AHEAD
Niko’s White Hair Marks an Important Turn in Her Life
Niko loved dandelions. When she was little, her father told her that having a dandelion by her side would help her have courage whenever she felt too afraid to do something. Moving from Japan to America after going through a heartbreaking loss counted as something where Niko required immense courage. So, she went in search of dandelions, hoping to have a flower with her to give her the support she needed. Instead, she ended up landing on a shrine of the old gods who had been left unattended and ignored for too long and who stuck to her like a leech, taking away the essence of her life to strengthen themselves.
In their research, Edwin and Charles discover that Niko is possessed by Dandelion Sprites, who feed on attention. The more attention they receive, the more powerful they become, and this spells terrible news for Niko. Once they get enough power, once they have leeched out of her as much as they can, they will leave her body, and it will not be a pretty sight because she will literally explode.
Fortunately for Niko, before the Sprites, called Kingham and Litty, can explode out of her body, Charles and Edwin come up with a way to get them out of her body and imprison them in an enchanted jar with Crystal’s help. By then, however, Niko has already been drained quite a lot. Due to the Sprites attracting attention towards themselves and becoming more and more powerful in the process, Niko’s body had started to give way. She would have nosebleeds and would faint whenever the Sprites got more powerful. She had been clinging desperately to her life by the time the Dead Boy Detectives found a way to save her. And her white hair is a mark of how close to she came to dying.
In the end, when the Sprites have been removed from her, Niko recuperates quite easily. With no supernatural entities possessing her, she is now back to her old self. But even as they depart, the Sprites leave her with white hair. Their “handiwork,” as Edwin calls it, is a mark of Niko’s close brush with death, following which she starts seeing ghosts, but also a mark of her resilience and survival.
Read More: Are Edwin and Charles Gay in Dead Boy Detectives?
