Amayo Jingoro

Amayo Jingoro a character featured in the Japanese anime "Basilisk Kouga Ninpou Chou" (known in English as "Kouga Ninja Scrolls"). Jingoro was chosen by his leader Ogen to be one of ten ninja to represent their clan of Iga Tsubagakure against the chosen ten of the rival Koga Manjidani clan.

Loathsome and cowardly at heart, Jingoro is one of the few members of the Iga ten who specializes in assassination rather than combat, preferring to sneak up on an enemy and being quick to flee when he suffers a disadvantage. By rubbing his body with salt, Jingoro is able to dissolve into a viscous semi-liquid form enabling him to slither through the tightest of passages, ooze his way up vertical surfaces, and silently creep onto his target to deliver the killing stroke. Maintaining this form for any extended period of time however results in Jingoro suffering extreme dehydration as his body gradually dries out and shrivels away. The only way to completely restore his strength and human form upon changing is for Jingoro to immerse himself in water. Jingoro also suffers from an intense fear of the sea as the high salt content in the ocean would keep him in a constant fluid state, leaving him to be dissolved completely instead of solidifying.

Like most of the Iga, Jingoro views Oboro as an incompetent leader and defers to Yakushiji Tenzen's orders. At one point, Jingoro bluntly refers to Oboro as being unworthy to be Ogen's successor even though he knew she was within range of his voice.

Battles

"Jingoro VS Gennosuke" (episode 4): Although ordered by Tenzen not to take any action against Gennosuke until he returned, Jingoro wasn't about to let the opportunity to eliminate the Koga heir slip through his grasp and conspired with Akeginu to eliminate both Gennosuke and Udono Jousuke during their visit to Tsubagakure. As Akeginu dealt with Jousuke, Jingoro smothered himself with salt from the Iga's storehouse and used his transformed state to silently creep into the ceiling of the guesthouse where Gennosuke was staying. Waiting until after Oboro left, Jingoro opened one of the ceiling panels and was seconds from descending onto his target when Gennosuke called out to him. Although he didn't know who his assassin was, Gennosuke had observed the Iga's hostility to his and Jousuke's presence and expected they might allow their animosity get the better of them. But instead of striking back in self defense, Gennosuke asked Jingoro to reconsider his actions and to grant his support to Gennosuke's and Oboro's plans to unite the clans in peaceful coexistence. With his presence detected, Jingoro retreated out onto the verandah where he was discovered by Oboro who used her Mystic Eyes to forcibly cancel his technique as punishment for his conduct.

"Jingoro VS Jousuke" (episode 4): Following his failed attempt to assassinate Gennosuke and his punishment by Oboro, Jousuke crawled in agony toward a nearby spring where he was discovered by Udono Jousuke. When Jousuke realized where Jingoro had just been, he took him captive and interrogated him by holding Jingoro above the water he needed to safely restore his human form. Faced with fatal dehydration, Jingoro frantically revealed to Jousuke that the Hattori truce had been absolved, all the while absorbing the water vapor floating in the air. Once he had regained enough strength, Jingoro turned around and sprayed Jousuke with a jet of mucus from his nostrils, startling him enough for Jingoro to leap into Jousuke's open mouth and smother him from the inside.

"Jingoro VS Okoi" (episode 7-8)): After going to check on Azuki Rousai's progress in interrogating the captive Koga woman Okoi, Jingoro found her lying half naked on the floor of the salt shed, begging him to put her out of her misery. Guessing that Rousai had raped Okoi, Jingoro was quick to realize the opportunity before him and began to strip out of his clothes. As soon as he positioned himself on top of her though, Jingoro found himself stuck to her skin. As with Rousai, Okoi began to suck the blood out of Jingoro who desperately dragged the two of them over to the salt Rousai had spilled before Okoi killed him. With her attention focused on bleeding him dry, Jingoro was able to scuttle onto the salt and successfully transformed into his fluid state. Without any solid skin to adhere herself to, Okoi was unable to maintain her hold on him and Jingoro retreated into the safety of the salt bundles where he remained until Mino Nenki arrived to finish Okoi off.

"Jingoro VS Gyoubu" (episode 14): Setting out with the remaining Iga for Sunpu, Jingoro had to be practically dragged onto the boat by the others where even the slightest disturbance caused him to cower in fear. When Tenzen sent him and Akeginu into the hold, Jingoro was the first to notice that one of the passengers was missing. After discovering the man's clothes, the two ran back to Oboro's cabin where they found Tenzen lying dead on the deck. One look at the marks around Tenzen's neck was enough for Jingoro to realize the missing passenger was actually Kasumi Gyoubu and he began to frantically slash the cabin planks with his katana. When Jingoro couldn't locate him there, he ran outside and began wildly slashing every plank and bundle in sight. When one of the other passengers attempted to restrain him, Jingoro in his panic killed him as Gyoubu maneuvered through the deck to take position beneath him. Before Jingoro could defend, Gyoubu materialized out of the deck to seize and lift Jingoro over his head before throwing him overboard and into the sea. As the other passengers and sailors watched in horror, Jingoro reverted to his liquid form and attempted to climb back onto the ship, but with his body quickly dissolving away was unable to maintain a firm grip. Akeginu shed her robe and jumped in to save him, but by the time she reached him Jingoro's body had already been completely broken down by the sea water leaving only his clothes floating in the ship's wake.

Manga

In the manga, though he shuns Oboro along with the other Iga following her decision to seal her eyes; Jingoro mostly maintains an impartial attitude towards her and instead prefers to concentrate on the task at hand of killing the remaining Koga ten.

Alternate information

Within the novel, Jingoro's appearance is said to be of a drowned person with blue mold growing on him.

References

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