Kouga Gennosuke

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Kōga Gennosuke (japanese: 甲賀 弦之介, hiragana: こうが げんのすけ, rōmaji: Kouga Gennosuke) the primary male character in the Japanese anime Basilisk Kouga Ninpou Chou (known in English as the Kouga Ninja Scrolls). As the grandson of Kouga Danjo Gennosuke was chosen to be one of ten warriors to represent their clan of Koga Manjidani against the chosen ten of the Iga Tsubagakure. Upon his grandfather's death, Gennosuke ascends to take leadership of the clan.

In some ways, Gennosuke is as much an oddity among his clan as Oboro is among hers. An idealist and scholar who believes in looking to the future instead of being dominated by the past, Gennosuke views the pursuit of any grudge to be an ultimately pointless and self-destructive practice. His sense of principles remain even after learning of the renewed conflict between Koga and Iga, prompting him to lead the Koga on an expedition to Sunpu to plead with former Shogun Ieyasu and Hattori Hanzo the 4th to reinstigate the treaty before any more sensless bloodshed is caused.

Yet despite being a man of peace, if pushed into a corner Gennosuke is more than capable of killing anyone who threatens him or his clansmen. In addition to his skill with the sword, Gennosuke wields a power called Genjutsu which he learned from his teacher Muroga Hyouma. A hypnosis technique, Genjutsu reverses the homicidal intent of anyone who meets the stare of its user. In other words; if someone expresses hostility toward him, Gennosuke is able to will his enemies into killing themselves instead of him. Even Yakushiji Tenzen thinks twice before challenging Gennosuke directly.

Before the cancellation of the treaty, Gennosuke sought to build a lasting peace between Koga and Iga by marrying Oboro, the princess of Iga Tsubagakure whom he loved to a great extent. His feelings for her remain even as the body count among both clans rise, filling him with torment as he struggles to reconcile his personal feelings with the duty demanded of him as his clan's leader.

[edit] Battles

Gennosuke VS Iga Shinobi: This was to be the first fight that Gennosuke would fight in. After Yakushiji Tenzen ordered his shinobi underlings to kill Gennosuke, who was at the time surrounded, Gennosuke unleashed his ultimate doujutsu technique as to supplement for his rage towards knowing of the war between the two clans. After the many shinobi looked into the eyes of Gennosuke, many of them cut off their own heads, along with slitting their bodies. This led to a large massacre resulting in the Gennosuke's victory.

Gennosuke VS Koshiro: A very minor conflict that took place right after Gennosuke had put an end to all of the Iga's subordinate shinobi. Koshiro, under Tenzen's orders, ran up near Gennosuke to unleash his vacuum technique. Gennosuke, who had unleashed his doujutsu, backfired Koshiro's attack to the result that Koshiro's eyes were destroyed. Gennosuke shortly left after this.

Gennosuke VS Tenzen: This was to be the final and ultimate battle during the end of the series. Gennosuke was temporarily blinded at that moment, due to the fact that Hotarubi's snake had sprayed poison into his eyes in the past - in which this blindness was to last for seven days. After a long hard fought bout between Gennosuke, who was currently full of wounds, and Tenzen, Gennosuke delivered the final blow to Tenzen by cutting off his head. Even though Tenzen was to live after this event after miscellaneous assistance, the battle between Gennosuke and Tenzen was at an end, since Oboro used her Eyes of Ruin on Tenzen and didn't allow him to regenerate himself.

Gennosuke VS Tokugawa Servants: This is a minor conflict in the last episode. After Oboro stabbed herself and died, Gennosuke's eyes were opened from his temporary blindness. He saw the dead body of Oboro after his eyes was opened. Because Oboro killed herself and the Iga lost the war, the nurse of the Tokugawa Shogun's son Ofuku who supported the Igas, lost her wits and ordered her servants to kill him. Since his eyes is already opened and the grief of seeing Oboro dead filled in, Gennosuke unleashed his doujutsu technique for the fourth and last time, which caused the Tokugawa retainers to kill themselves. The battle resulted in his victory and the one of the Koga, but as he held Oboro's lifeless body in his arms, Gennosuke used his own blood to write in his scroll that the true winner was Oboro, and after sending the hawk to the shogun's castle, he used Oboro's dagger to stab himself to death.

[edit] Alternate Information

Gennosuke is in the live-action movie Shinobi: Heart Under Blade. He looks drastically different and even his technique is changed. It still depends on his eyes, but it appears to manipulate time instead of reflecting a person's malice upon them.

[edit] Reference

Basilisk - the anime