Kazamachi Shogen

Kazamachi Shōgen (japanese: 風待 将監, hiragana: かざまち しょうげん, rōmaji: "Kazamachi Shougen") a character featured in the Japanese anime "Basilisk Kouga Ninpou Chou" (known in English as the "Kouga Ninja Scrolls"). Shogen was chosen to be one of ten warriors to represent the Kouga Manjidani clan in their duel against the chosen ten of the rival Iga Tsubagakure clan.

Shogen has perhaps the most unusual appearance of all the characters in Basilisk. A bulbous hunchback, oversized hands and feet, and long gangly limbs grant him the agility and dexterity of a spider. He also possesses a long prehensile tongue that secretes a sticky glue-like substance which Shogen can fling as pellets, spray as a stream, or even weave into a net similar to a spider's web. As such, Shogen is one of the few members of the Koga ten who specializes in combat rather than stealth and assassination. His personality is sadistic and he enjoys toying with his enemies before killing them. Shogen's unusual physique seems to be a trait common in his family as during the Iga's surprise raid on Manjidani, Koushiro was attacked by someone who bore a striking similarity to Shogen.

Battles

"Shogen VS Yashamaru" (episode 1): The first battle to take place during the Basilisk series. Summoned to Sunpu Castle by retired Shogun Ieyasu, Shogen and Yashamaru were brought by their respective leaders Kouga Danjo and Ogen to demonstrate their clan's skill. After being tied to a rock by Yashamaru's wires and narrowly escaping being sliced into pieces, Shogen sprayed Yashamaru's hands with glue; neutralizing the wires around his arms and sticking them to Yashamaru's head. Leaping onto his opponent's back, Shogen seized Yashamaru around the neck and crotch and asked him to struggle, only to leap off when the wires around Yasamaru's legs attempted to skewer him. As Yashamaru sliced off the glue (along with most of his hair), Shogen led his opponent to the top of Sunpu castle where their techniques destroyed a good section of the roof before Ieyasu ordered them to be called off. Following the fight and Ieyasu's decree for the two clans to renew their conflict, Shogen was then charged by Danjo to take the Kouga's copy of the battle scroll to Manjidani.

"Shogen VS Rousai/Nenki/Hotarubi/Koshiro" (episode 3): While on his way to Manjidani with the Koga's copy of the battle scroll, Shogen was attacked by four members of the Iga ten. After spraying Koshirou's mouth with his glue, Shogen barely avoided Nenki and Rousai's strikes as he leaped onto a tree to better weave his glue into a net and ended up catching all his attackers except for Hotarubi. Intending to finishing them off at his leisure, Shogen found himself overwhelmed when Hotarubi summoned her butterflies to swarm over him and his net, distracting him enough for Hotarubi to throw one of Koushiro's hand scythes to Nenki who caught it with his hair and then flung it straight into Shogen's forehead. Shogen tossed the scroll to his comrade Jimushi Jubei, and the Iga group save for Hotarubi ran to catch him. Alive but paralyzed, Shogen was unable to defend as Hotarubi held a knife to his throat and demanded to know whether Yashamaru was still alive. In a final act of defiance, Shogen spit his glue onto her cheek and an enraged Hotarubi furiously stabbed him to death.

Manga

Shogen's depiction in the anime is almost entirely the same as in the original manga with the exception of being granted additional scenes. Also, when the Iga make their attack on Manjidani in the manga; Koshirou identifies one of his opponents as Shogen's kin while no such statement is made in the anime which occasionally confuses some viewers into thinking that Shogen somehow survived the Iga's ambush.

Alternate information

In the original novel, Shogen receives a concussion from Nenki's club when attacked by the four Iga during his return to Manjidani. Shogen fights to remain conscious and succeeds in trapping three of his enemies but ultimately succumbs to his injury after being distracted by Hotarubi's butterfly swarm.

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