A topic from AEG's L5R CCG Rules forum, copied for Oracle of the Void from a copy of the forum saved in October 2015, so pages it didn't save are missing. Players' names are left out; the rules officials are named. Rulings are as they stood on these dates; later rulings, the rulebooks and the Rules Archive may differ.
A player, 25 March 2010
Akuma no Oni xp2 has as text:
Text Shadowlands • Nonhuman • Oni • Overlord • Experienced 2 Oni no Akuma • Unique After Akuma enters play: Lose 15 Honor and destroy your rightmost province. During the Action Phase, Akuma does not bow and may not be targeted. Once per game, after a battle's resolution in which an attacking army containing Akuma destroyed a province: Destroy another of the Defender’s Provinces.
Never stand alone has two abilities, each of which target during the Action phase: Text Open: Remove a target Personality in a discard pile from the game. Limited: Target a discarded (not dead) Personality you own. Put the Personality face-up in one of your provinces, discarding a card from it if necessary.
BUT, Akuma isn't "in play," but he IS face up, so is using either ability legal?
Alex Jones (rules official), 25 March 2010
Akuma no Oni xp2 has as text:
Text Shadowlands • Nonhuman • Oni • Overlord • Experienced 2 Oni no Akuma • Unique After Akuma enters play: Lose 15 Honor and destroy your rightmost province. During the Action Phase, Akuma does not bow and may not be targeted. Once per game, after a battle's resolution in which an attacking army containing Akuma destroyed a province: Destroy another of the Defender’s Provinces.
Never stand alone has two abilities, each of which target during the Action phase: Text Open: Remove a target Personality in a discard pile from the game. Limited: Target a discarded (not dead) Personality you own. Put the Personality face-up in one of your provinces, discarding a card from it if necessary.
BUT, Akuma isn't "in play," but he IS face up, so is using either ability legal?
Akuma no Oni exp2 may not be targeted by either ability on Never Stand Alone, since its trait is active in the discard pile.
See Implications of in and out of play: Cards that are not in play or in a resolution, entering-play or focusing area have the following limitations: * Their continuous traits do not produce effects. EXCEPTION: Continuous effects on cards out of play affect only the card itself.