Iwao Akatsuki

Infobox animanga character
name = Iwao Akatsuki
series = Spriggan


caption = Iwao encountering Yu Ominae in Romania
first = Forest of No Return Arc
last =
creator = Hiroshi Takashige and Ryōji Minagawa
voiced by =
alias = Boomerang Returning ManIn the Japanese version, his original alias was "Returning Man". "Boomerang" is the translation used by Viz.]
age =
born =
nationality = Japanese
occupation = Trident Corporation Soldier Mercenary
relatives =
paux1 name = Affiliations
paux1 = Trident Corporation
aux1 name = Weapons
aux1 = Unknown Combat knife
Glock 17 Steyr AUG
aux2 name = Equipment
aux2 = Armored Machine Suit
aux3 name = Skills
aux3 = Known expertise in small arms Martial arts/Combat knife expert Commando and infiltration specialistnihongo|"Iwao Akatsuki"|暁巌|Akatsuki Iwao is a fictional character in the manga series Spriggan. An operative working for the Trident Corporation, he is one of the known bearers of the Armored Machine Suit. He is the rival of Yu Ominae since he wears the Armored Muscle Suit, where the Armored Machine Suit was based on. [Iwao claims that the suit was made with combat data analyzed between Fatman and Little Boy against ARCAM Defense Unit soldiers stationed in the ARCAM Mount Ararat research center.]

He has two scars above his right eyebrow.

Origin

It is not known how Iwao got to be a part of the Trident Corporation's mercenary force, though it would be safe to assume that he had military experience prior to joining the corporation. [One can speculate that he was an ex-Japanese Ground Self-Defense Forces soldier.] No other backstory was offered to explain his background or how he was recruited into Trident.

Appearance

First appearing in the Forest of No Return chapter, Iwao stated that he wishes to team up with Yu Ominae and escape the Forest of No Return. Yu sees him as an enemy as the ARCAM Corporation and Trident Corporation were enemies battling for control of the out-of-place artifacts. His first impression left Yu shocked when Iwao explained about his Armored Machine Suit, which makes faster than his ARCAM adversary. The two teamed up with Yoshino Somei to defeat the cursed forest and escape India with their lives.

He later resurfaced in Romania as part of a Trident taskforce to eliminate Yu and the other Spriggan agents assigned to investigate their presence. Even though Larry Markson ordered the destruction of the medieval fortress that they used to use the Spriggans in, Iwao came into the rubble and rescued Yu, showing that he has a sense of honor. He was later placed in charge of the SS Eugenio E, which was secretly transporting the Ark of the Covenant hidden in the passenger ship. Yu and Iwao have encountered each other again, but the two had joined forces to see what the Ark had to offer and to ensure the safety of the civilians after Sidewinder had retrieved the Ark via C-130 aircraft, which led to Yu failing his mission to secure the said artifact.

Nearing the end of the series, Iwao had been targeted for termination [This was done after the SS Eugenio E encounter.] alongside Yu, Jean and Bo Brantz by COSMOS forces in the forests of Japan, barely defeating them when Bo died after sustaining multiple wounds suffered after fighting COSMOS soldiers off them. The trio ventured on to the South Pole, where they defeated Trident forces stationed in the region in order to disrupt Larry Markson's plans to militarize the use of the South Pole Shrine.

Aftermath

He was last seen slugging Larry when he tried to escape via helicopter. In a twist of events, Iwao graciously helped Larry stand up even though his termination was ordered by his superior. It is unknown on what happened at this point. [This event is left to open interpretation by the readers.]

Character

Iwao appears to be a typical grunt who follows orders and returns alive from every mission, given the alias "Boomerang" by his Trident comrades.In the Japanese version, his original alias was "Returning Man". "Boomerang" is the translation used by Viz.] But Iwao has a sense of honor and is sometimes willing to forego adverserial ties in order to assist them in escaping out of a situation that they themselves can't escape from. [This was first shown in Volume 3 when Iwao gave cover fire for Yu and Yoshino to destroy the God Tree in the Forest of No Return. In Volume 11, Yu and Iwao team up with Jean to infiltrate the Trident research center in the South Pole.]

Iwao, from his conversation with his Spriggan enemies, claims that he enjoys being a Trident operative and mercenary since it gives him the ultimate thrill of hunting down a worthy opponent to fight with, especially since Yu Ominae gives him a good fight in the field. [Iwao: "I'm not interested in any life without death. See, this is actually my idea of a good time. A game of life and death... I'm in this business for the thrill of it!" (Striker: Volume 2 - The Forest of No Return. - Viz Media) - ISBN 978-1569312902.]

Notes

ee also

* Trident Corporation