Azuki Rousai

Azuki Rōsai (japanese: 小豆 蠟斎, hiragana: あずき ろうさい, rōmaji: "Azuki Rousai") a character featured in the Japanese anime "". Rousai was one of ten Ninja that were assigned by his leader Ogen to represent their clan of Iga Tsubagakure against the chosen ten of the rival Kouga Manjidani clan.

The oldest member of the Iga ten after Tenzen, Rousai is short statured with an even shorter temper and a massive gourd-shaped head, which in the anime he claims is swollen with hatred for the Koga from the day they launched their raid alongside Nobunaga's assault. Despite his frail and antiquated appearance, Rousai is a highly skilled martial artist whose punches and kicks are capable of felling trees and crushing stone with one blow. Additionally, his ninja technique enables him to stretch and contort his arms and legs in fantastic ways similar to Dragon Ball's Piccolo, Street Fighter's Dhalsim or One Piece's Monkey D. Luffy. As such, he's one of Basilisk's few characters that utilizes unarmed combat.

In the Japanese original anime, he is voiced by Takeshi Aono.

Battles

"Rousai VS Jousuke" (episode 2): In one of the more extravagant battles of the anime, Rousai goes to inspect what appears to be Lady Ogen's hawk delivering a message to the Iga and finds Udono Jousuke of the Kouga attempting to read it. Despite his warnings, Jousuke took the scroll and challenges Rousai to take it from him, resulting in a battle that rages through the night with Rousai twisting his limbs around trees as he attempts to reach Jousuke who bounces around like a rubber ball. In the end, neither are killed as they eventually come across Oboro, Gennosuke, and a search party from Tsubagakure. Gennosuke takes back the scroll and promptly returned it to the Iga, unknowing of the contents or the consequences it will bring upon him.

"Rousai VS Shogen" (episode 3): Along with Koushiro, Hotarubi, and Nenki; Rousai was sent by Yakushiji Tenzen to intercept Kazamachi Shogen and take the Koga's battle scroll. Despite the power and range of his unarmed strikes, Rousai found himself snared and unable to break free of Shogen's glue net. Crawling down from his perch, Shogen grabbed Rousai's head and offered him a choice on how he would like to be killed. (In the dub, Shogen's question is in regards to whether he should eat Rousai's brains before or after killing him). Fortunately for Rousai, Hotarubi managed to escape being caught and distracted Shogen with her butterfly swarm long enough for Nenki to finish him off with Koushiro's scythe.

"Rousai VS Koga Shinobi" (episode 5): Under the command of Tenzen; Rousai was one of the five Iga who launched a sneak attack on Manjidani after burning the Koga's copy of the battle scroll. After helping Koushiro take out the perimeter guards, Rousai was seized by Kasumi Gyoubu who held him pinned to a wall before Rousai broke free and smashed the wall where Gyoubu was hiding. As the Koga shinobi surrounded them, Rousai killed several of the enemy ninja by extending his arms to whip several aside at once or to wrap around and crush them one by one. When the members of the Koga Ten in Manjidani joined the fight, Rousai retreated along with the others.

"Rousai VS Okoi" (episode 7): Following the failed surprise attack, the Iga ten managed to capture Okoi, one of the Koga ten who was on her way to Tsubagakure to check on Gennosuke. After Nenki left her stripped and tied up in the clan's salt shed, Rousai appeared before Okoi with the battle scroll and demanded to know the techniques used by the remaining Koga ten. Okoi replied she'd tell him if Rousai explained why his head was so big, and Rousai furiously said his head was swollen with hatred of the Kouga from the day they sought to eliminate the Iga following the surprise attack by Oda Nobunaga. When Okoi denied that her leader Kouga Danjo would ever condone such actions, Rousai applauded her for remaining loyal to her kin and admitted that if their roles were reversed the Iga would have done the same. When Okoi points out the hypocrisy of calling the Koga villains with that kind of attitude, Rousai angrily chopped open a salt bundle and threatened to slice off parts of her body if she didn't answer his questions; starting with her arms, then her legs, and finally her breasts. Okoi recoiled in terror at his threat and Rousai moved forward to threateningly caress Okoi's shoulder, only to find his hand stuck to her skin. As Okoi began to drain the blood from his body, Rousai raised one leg to kick her away but Okoi blocked with her foot, establishing another point of contact. After forming a third contact point by stomping her other foot on Rousai's, Okoi wrapped her legs around Rousai's torso; dislocating his hips and pinning him against her as she attached her lips to his throat and drained all the blood from his body, leaving Rousai as nothing more than a dried up husk.

Manga

As Nobunaga's assault on Tsubagakure only occurred in the anime, Rousai in the manga offers no explanation why his head is so misshapen; leaving the reader to assume his appearance is merely a physical deformity he was born with.

In the manga, when encountering Okoi in the salt shed, he does threaten to cut off her limbs, but also takes it a step further by threatening to rape her. Seeing her reaction, he smirks and notes that she doesn't want something like that to happen to her.

Alternate information

In the original novel, Rousai's head is normal sized and he is described as walking with a bent that makes him parallel to the ground. In battle though, Rousai is able to straighten himself out and attack with the same speed and flexibility he displays in the anime and manga; although his limbs don't stretch to the same extreme lengths.

References

*Fumitoro Kizaki (Director). Basilisk-Koga Ninpocho [TV-Series] GONZO/Kodansha/Japan Digital Concepts: Japan. 2005
*Masaki Segawa (Mangaka). Basilisk-Koga Ninpocho [Manga] Kodansha: Japan. 2003-2004
*Futaro Yamada (Author). Koga Ninpocho [novel] Japan. 1958