Kurodou Akabane

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Kurodou Akabane (赤屍蔵人 Akabane Kurodō) is a fictional character in the manga / anime series GetBackers. In the original Japanese version, he's voiced by Nobuo Tobita. (First appearance - manga: act 3 part 2, anime: episode 3)

[edit] Person

Kuroudo "Dr. Jackal" Akabane works as a "Transporter" ("hakobiya" in Japanese), a person is paid to escort things to a certain location. With his attire (black hat and coat, complete with shirt and black tie) polite manners, and ever-present smile, he could be mistaken for a harmless person. But for those who even remotely heard of his name, they know that the Jackal is possibly the most evil Transporter to ply his trade ever. Entertainment is his main goal, not money; he is mainly a hedonist and the jobs he takes are chosen exclusively for his own amusement. He likes to decapitate his enemies while engaging them in battle, a practice that many of the other characters see as going too far. Indeed, the other characters (notably Ban Mido and Ginji Amano) do not like him because of his other habit of cutting up anything which stands between him and his goal, whether man or beast (Ginji early in the anime notices that several victims have the letter J carved into them). (In his own words, he is a "consummate professional.")

His first encounter with the GetBackers was when he was on duty in the "Platinum" arc. He fought with Ginji Amano and lost to him (discovering that Akabane hides his scalpels within his body, Ginji used his electromagnetic powers to pull all of them out of his body in one shot). Afterwards, Akabane simply left, telling Himiko that he was no longer interested in the job now that he had lost blood and felt compensated for his time. Since then, he has shown a lot of interest in fighting again with Ginji and Ban. Later on in the series he returns with new scalpels, which could not be affected by Ginji's electromagnetic powers.

Subsequently, he has often fought against the duo, even if they are supposed to be on the same side (in the IL arc, he fought against Ginji in the hope that he would revert back to Raitei). Also, Ginji became extremely fearful of him when Akabane told him that he could change the material making up his scalpels into anything, more importantly, into non-magnetic substances, thus rendering Ginji's winning strategy in the first fight useless. Often, Ginji will turn chibi in the presence of Akabane. But against Ban (in the anime), he suffered ultimate defeat even after calling for his "Bloody Sword". In the manga, he wants to fight Ban one-on-one someday in an all-out battle to see who is better, but has yet to receive that chance, though on several occasions they have faced each other.

During one chapter in the Kiryuudo arc, after he is severely wounded and thought to have been killed by Semimaru, Ginji became quite empathetic towards Akabane's supposed corpse, asking why he (of all people) had to die like this after everything they had been through, until Akabane literally rose from the dead and left everyone in astonishment. Ginji asks in shock why he isn't dead, to which Akabane replies "I have never thought about my death, therefore I can't die." Ginji proclaims that the good thing is that he is alive afterall, to which Akabane questions for his sake whether or not it truly was a good thing like he said, while smiling truthfully for the first time shown in the series.

Later, he assigns the Getbackers to do an unlikely job: to retrieve Himiko Kudo for him. The significance of this occurs only to Ban, who understands that Akabane is actually sent by the Professor, to begin a string of events that will ultimately led to challenging the curse that Ban has to face: the Voodoo Child.

In the "Get Back the Lost Time" arc, he was hired by Hevn to transport her to Babylon City. Along the way, he picked up an injured Paul Wan, and held off attacks from Kagami Kyoji. Later, he was to challenge Ban to a seemingly final battle and tells Ban himself during this fight that he admits that with all of his opponents in the past, Kagami, Masaki, Semimaru & Raitei himself, he could never show his true strength as a whole and asks Ban as he attacks to teach him what the true Akabane Koroudo really is at his peak.

Both men fight until their last and Akabane eventually wins in the final hit and defeats Ban, Ban collapses shortly after in pain and Akabane comments how "Midou-kun" has finally seen his limit but luckily for him, he too has seen his own limit and thus his lowest point. Blood sprays outwardly from Akabane and he disappears as his trademark hat covers the view point's perspective.

Soon after the encounter with Ban a different version of Akabane awaits Ginji, Teshimine & Makubex atop of the Infinity Castle inside the gates of Babylon at the entrance, although this version whilst dressed like a realistic doctor, promptly tells Ginji he has been "chosen" as he welcomes him to the town of the "creators" Babylon City.

The version of Akabane in Babylon City reveals to Ginji that he is a surgeon and his last name is actually written as "赤羽". The first part "赤" means "red", and "羽" means feather or bird. So the new name may possibly be translated as "red bird".

[edit] Abilities

Akabane's primary weapons are 108 razor-sharp surgical scalpels which he can hurl with deadly accuracy. Although the GetBackers initially believed that he simply concealed the weapons beneath his flowing clothes, when Ginji incinerated them in their first battle it became apparent that Akabane actually conceals the scalpels within his own body. The scalpels appear to be an extension of Akabane - although he rarely chooses to manipulate their movement once thrown normally, he has displayed the ability to summon them back into his body from a distance. His most spectacular use of his scalpels is in his "Bloody Rain" attack, where he will launch all of the weapons into the air and direct them to rain down on a single target.Another of the many uses is that he can hurl his scalpels to form a hurricane around his viticm before impaling them into the victim's body,"Blood Hurricane"as he calls it.He as used it once in episode 32 on Ban.He can also throw his scalpels directly at the opponent,the "Bloody Stream".

Other unique powers include the Bloody Cross - by laying his palm outwards which has a cross scar, a cross like pattern will appear, and cause his opponent to be cleaved into 4 quarters as though they were sliced by a cross-shaped knife. So far, he's only used it twice: against Kyoji Kagami (who survived by letting his mirror double take the hit) and Semimaru Kanade (who was later nailed to a tree with Akabane's scaples and stuck there until Kaoru Haruki healed him).

The precise nature of Akabane's power has yet to be defined - when he battled Kyoji Kagami and inhaled some of his Mirror Dust (referred to as Diamond Dust in the anime), he promptly coughed up the deadly mixture and shaped it into a pair of diamond scalpels, assuming anything which mixed with his blood became his weapon. Consequently, it would be safe to assume that Akabane actually generates his weapons out of his own blood - that certainly appears to be the case with his massive "Bloody Sword," a weapon he will summon only if he feels an opponent is worth it. If nothing else, he would certainly not be able to literally conceal the sword within his flesh, the way his scalpels are originally suggested to be hidden.

All this, combined with a surgical mind and great speed, make him one of the most feared men in Ura Shinjuku.

Notably, while the manga presents Akabane's sword and scalpels as being ordinary-looking, physical weapons, the anime opts instead to illustrate them as glowing constructs that seem to be made of energy. His scalpels commonly glow white, but turn red when he uses his Bloody Rain, Cross, Hurricane, or Stream. Also, his Bloody Sword is always red, manifesting in his hand as a sword of energy.

[edit] Trivia

• Kagami refers to Jackal as "Babylon City's Kurodou Akabane" so it is safe to assume he was, at one point, a resident of the upper towers. His reason for leaving is currently unknown but it may be that he was bored. Akabane states that his motives are to find someone who can test the limits of his power - something he himself has never seen.

• He has been compared with Kyoji Kagami for a few reasons.
  • He wears black, which is a contrast to Kagami's white outfit.
  • Both men came from Bablyon City, and are polite to others.
  • Both men are noted for their incredible speed.
  • In their first fight, the sight of his scalpels clashing against Kagami's glass shards, together with the smiles both men flashed at each other, makes for some eerie similarities.
  • In their rematch, both men managed to find ways to duplicate themselves. (Kagami by using mirrors, Akabane by using his blood)
  • Both men are noted to have purple-colored eyes.

• Interestingly, Tobita voices Vayne Solidor (the main villain) in Final Fantasy XII, while Sakurai Takahiro, Kagami's seiyu, voiced Cloud, the main hero of Final Fantasy VII. Also, the slit in Akabane's hat was inflicted by Kagami during their first fight. Before this, the hat was whole.

• It has been revealed that he used to be a real doctor/surgeon. He actually used to save lives when he served as the doctor on a battlefield. While on a stint in a foreign battlefield, he failed to save a young boy's life despite his efforts. The change to his current personality could have been influenced by this event. He battled the young boy's father (Semimaru Kanade) in the Kiryuudo arc.

• He's been seen with the Professor several times, a hint that he might be one of those responsible for the series of events concerning the GB duo, though he denies this when the Professor questions him

• Akabane came 2nd in the results of a popularity poll that appeared in volume 14 of the manga with 3369 votes.
• Interestingly, despite his reputation, he actually saved Hevn's life twice.
  • The first time was in Hell's Valley, where he jumped off a crashing helicopter while carrying her.
  • The second time was in the Beltline, where he shielded her from Kagami's attack.

• Akabane appears on the cover of volume 2 of the English Language DVD but does not feature in any of the episodes (6-10), he also appears on the cover of volume 8 (episode 36-40) but only makes a brief appearance in one episode.
• Every time Akabane reappears in the manga, his hair and coat gets longer and longer. Also, his abilities seem to grow exponentially.
• Akabane's English voice actor, Shannon McCormick, has revealed that he has voiced many villains and antagonists in previous voice work, including foreign action films. Also, during the commentary of episode 5, the fight between Akabane and Ginji was jokingly referred to as the "Battle of the Shannons", since both voice actors have that name.

GetBackers
Story arcs • Episode List
Characters
GetBackers: Ginji Amano + Ban Mido
Volt Kings: Kazuki Fuuchouin* | Shido Fuyuki | MakubeX | Masaki Kurusu
Transporters: Kurodou Akabane (Dr Jackal) | Himiko Kudo
Infinity Fortress Characters: Juubei Kakei* | Haruki Emishi | Sakura Kakei* | Kyoji Kagami | Toshiki Uryuu*
Crew of the Honky Tonk: Hevn | Paul Wan | Natsumi Mizuki
Other Characters: Maria Noches | Saizou Toufuuin* | Madoka Otowa | Miroku family
*Fuuga member - italics: manga only character
Other Topics
Infinity (Limitless) Fortress - Fuuga (Elegance)